From Where You Are
by MaydayParade8123
Summary: They run into each other at the county fair, and it's been a while. This is a story about coming to terms with the end of senior year, rekindling old friendships through study sessions, getting philosophical on Ferris wheels, and falling in love of the midst of it all. AU.


_Summary: __They run into each other at the county fair, and it's been a while. This is a story about coming to terms with the end of senior year, rekindling old friendships through study sessions, getting philosophical on Ferris wheels, and falling in love of the midst of it all. AU._

Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Heroes of Olympus series, or any characters I've adopted from there. I also don't own Oreos, a potential pub called Expo or a sweet shop called Rosie's that might exist unbeknownst to me.

Warnings: one brief drug mention (marijuana, if you're curious, and it's entirely off screen), talk of cigarettes/alcohol, cursing here and there. I think that's it, but let me know if I missed anything so I can add it to this list.

Author's Note: I struggled a lot with this one. It's very long, very ridiculous, and hopefully worth your time. I hope anyone reading has a nice night; let me know if I can do anything for you. My tumblr is maydayparade8123 if that interests you. The title belongs to Lifehouse; they have a song of the same title and it's very lovely, although it doesn't have much to do with this story.

;;;

It was Leo's idea to go to the fair, and with much credit all of his spastic and vociferous pleading, he managed to annoy everyone else into agreeing to tag along.

Percy's mostly going because Axe is going, and Axe is mostly going because Kay said she might make an appearance. _Typical_, Percy thinks, watching his best friend glance around in what he believes to be a casual way.

It's not that Percy _hates_ fairs—he loves them, really; loves the bright lights and the laughter that seems to push at his ears from all sides. It's a happy place, or at least somewhere people go to be happy, and it's the kind of atmosphere Percy would stay in forever if he could. There's few things Percy loves more than happy people, and the variety of fried food at his disposal is nothing if not a plus.

Never let it be said that Percy doesn't like the way fairs make him feel. But let it be known far and wide that he won't touch those rides that shoot up a million feet in the air, nor will he mess with the ones that spin in circles so quickly, he feels sick just looking at them.

Percy and the guys lap the fairgrounds twice before they decide to start out easy with the Pharaoh ride. Percy doesn't like that one—doesn't like the sensation of flying anymore than actually flying—so he decides to stand near the exit holding two big jackets and one watered down Mountain Dew. He almost regrets coming. He's never been a huge fan of fair rides save the Ferris wheel and Tilt-A-Whirl, but it's better than spending his Friday night doing the homework due Monday, he guesses.

The guys get off the ride, all of their hair sticking up in a few different directions. Axe ruffles Percy's hair up for good measure, and they all dash off to the Ring of Fire.

Percy stares up at it, contemplating; it would be totally safe to drape all of their belongings over the fence surrounding the ride, of course, so there doesn't have to be a man left behind every time they ride something. Not to mention the fact that Percy bought the unlimited riding wristband alongside everyone else, even if most of the rides are far too dangerous for his taste.

"You coming?" Axe questions, a few steps away. Percy opens his mouth and closes it, and even though he doesn't say anything, his best friend still understands somehow. "Hey, if you're not up to it, it's fine. I know you get a little... you know."

Percy, predictably, feels like a loser—like the one teenager in all of the park who doesn't want to do something reckless; who doesn't like the way wind feels on his face. "I think I'll go get something to eat. Meet you guys after?"

Axe smiles kindly and pats him on the shoulder. "Of course. I'll make sure we ride the Ferris wheel before the night's over, too. I know you like that the most."

Percy gives a short nod, seeing a few more people saunter up to the Ring of Fire. "You better hurry before all the seats are filled."

It takes him a while to find a place that has any hot chocolate left, since it's past eleven and most families have already come and gone after consuming the majority of the fair's supply of warm drinks. It's not much, just chocolate mix poured into some hot water, and the marshmallows have already melted into little white dots of foam, but it cheers Percy up anyways. After all, he's drinking hot chocolate while all of his friends are upside down on a death trap of a ride.

Someone bumps into him from behind, and Percy hears a chorus of laughter before he turns. His hand hurts a little, since some hot chocolate spilled upon the collision, but it's not something he can't handle.

"Sorry," the girl says, her head turned away from him. Her presence feels familiar—like maybe he's been around her before, or heard her voice or her laugh. "My friends are a little... _pushy_."

Percy smiles at what might or might not have been a pun. "It's fine," he answers, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. It's still boiling hot. The girl turns away from her friends and looks at him, finally, and Percy nearly spits.

"Oh, Percy," she says, pleasantly surprised. "Haven't seen you for a while, partner."

Percy's chest hurts a little, and he's not sure if it's from the scalding hot chocolate or the blonde in front of him. "Yeah, it's been a while since—"

"Since chemistry, sophomore year," Annabeth interrupts, and Percy nods. "Yeah, that was a fun class. I always liked chemistry."

He must make a face, because Annabeth laughs at him, pretty pink lips parting to show white teeth. Percy is momentarily entranced. "I can't remember you liking it half as much as I did."

"Was a little miserable," Percy admits, though it's an understatement. He'd been _awful_ at chemistry, barely scraping by with Ds. The only good thing about the class had been Annabeth—smart, wonderful Annabeth who'd helped him through the vast majority of the worksheets that might as well have been in another language, for all of Percy's understanding of the subject.

"Well, at least you passed, so it's over and done with now," she mentions, small smile still tugging at her lips. Percy watches as she zips up her jacket, finding himself conscious of the fact that he left his in his car. He kind of wishes he didn't, just so he could have something to tuck his face into, or at the very least serve as a distraction.

"Guess I have you to thank for that," he replies, smiling tightly back when Annabeth beams. He's seen her almost every day at school for the past five years, and the only time he's ever talked to her is when they were chem lab partners for what might have been the best 9 weeks of his life. There had been the occasional hello when they ran into each other during assemblies since, but other than that, Percy hadn't gathered the guts to make it abundantly clear to Annabeth that he wants to be her friend. (And he _does_ want to be her friend—Annabeth's a good ally to have, for one, and he also feels both smarter and less intelligent just by standing near her. She gives him good vibes. Percy's always loved people like that.)

It looks like Annabeth's about to say something, and Percy's prepared to hang onto every word she breathes, but one of her friends clears their throat without a hint of subtlety. "Oh, right," Annabeth says, like she can't believe herself for being so rude. "This is Percy, guys. And that's Piper, Reyna, Hazel, and—"

"Kay," Percy says with a knowing smile. "Axe is looking for you."

"Of course he is," one of the girls says, but Percy isn't sure who. Kay blushes a little, tucking a chunk of her short, dark hair behind her ear.

"I was actually about to go find them, if you want to come with?" Percy was mostly directing the question towards Kay, but all of the girls take it as an invitation. They begin to walk; Annabeth stays closer to him while the other girls drag a little behind them.

"So..." Annabeth clears her throat, and Percy wishes he would have paid attention during his mom's silly romantic comedies on movie night. Maybe then he'd know how to talk to a girl. "Having fun?"

Percy nods immediately, swirling his hot chocolate and carefully stepping over a bundle of thick cords stretching across the walkway. There's a lot of things Percy wants to do in front of Annabeth, but most of them involve impressing her and not tripping face-first into the cold, wet grass. "Yeah, I guess. You?"

She shrugs, and her elbow hits his. Percy tries his best not to grin at that, but he's never been one for success. "I'm not a huge fan of fairs, personally, but I was physically dragged from my home tonight by them." She tips her head back, gesturing to her friends, and Percy smiles a little. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Percy says, raising his eyebrows at her. "Just—no parties to attend? Dates to run off on? Family dinners to sit through?"

"That was sophomore year," Annabeth says on a sigh. It sounds mostly relieved, but maybe a little wistful, too."I'm a little more boring now. I read a lot."

"That's—" Percy searches for a word. "Um, that's good. Reading is good for you."

Annabeth sends him an amused look. "Do you read, Percy?"

He knows she's teasing him, and he can feel his cheeks heating up. "A—sometimes. A little."

"What's your favorite book?"

"I—" Percy wishes he had a title in his mind—something impressive, something that would make Annabeth look at him like she's surprised, but happy he said something. "Um, _The Edge of Us_?"

Annabeth raises an eyebrow, directly translating to an unspoken _are you messing with me_? Percy keeps a straight face. "By whom?"

"Sally... Jackson," Percy says, admitting defeat.

Annabeth snorts, her eyes closing briefly as she laughs at him. "Your mother's book? _Really_?"

"Well, I didn't have a proper answer!" Percy says, laughing with her. "I figured I could at least promo my mom when I had the chance."

"Unbelievable," Annabeth says, pressing her lips together to keep from smiling, and holding his gaze. Percy breaks it first, idly scratching his chest and staring down at his toes. Annabeth's no less blinding than she was two years ago.

"There you are, Percy," Axe says appearing on Percy's other side. He leans past him, waving at Annabeth. "Hey, you. Doing alright?"

Annabeth nods, bangs falling to cover her eyes. She shoves them out of the way with a hint of frustration, and Percy has a feeling he's not supposed to find that somewhat cute. "And you? I heard you were looking for a certain someone."

"I absolutely was not," Axe says, though not without a less than amicable clap on Percy's back. Percy smiles serenely at his best friend, nodding to Kay as if to say, _go get 'em, Tiger_. "I'll talk to you two later."

He goes to Kay, after that, and Percy and Annabeth share a smug smile. They always were a good team, even back in their chemistry lab days. "They're going to date, aren't they?" Percy questions quietly, watching Axe shrug off his jacket for Kay as she rubs her arms to warm herself up.

"Of course they are," Annabeth says, a little fond.

"Hey, guys, we're going to go hit the Double Shot," Leo calls out from where he stands between Hazel and Reyna, arms reached out to wrap around both of the girls' shoulders. They both look vaguely annoyed but mostly indifferent to Leo's lady-killer antics.

"I think I'll pass," Percy says, at the same time Annabeth says, "I hate that one."

"Right, well you two can wallow in your utter lame-ity," Jason says, sending them a smile to let them know that he doesn't mean it. "We'll catch up soon."

"Lame-ity isn't a word, Jason," Annabeth says with an eye roll, her cheeks a little pink from the cold. Percy looks away, letting his eyes fall on the nearest spinning ride to distract himself. "Call us if you need us."

"Will do," Jason replies, saluting them before he jogs ahead to pounce on Leo's back, nearly making him, along with Hazel and Reyna, fall. They laugh, and Percy smiles at the group.

"It's been a while since we all hung out," Annabeth comments, and Percy nods. Sure, they've met up in pairs and trios here and there, but it's been a long time since they had the whole gang.

"Would have been the year before the last, right? During that trip to the museum." _The trip where we got lost because we sneaked off to the Greek and Roman section while everyone else stayed on the tour. You talked us out of getting in trouble with our teacher._

"That was a fun field trip," Annabeth says, glancing up at him. She doesn't say so, but he knows she remembers wandering off together just as much as he does.

"Really fun," Percy agrees, pointlessly. He remembers Annabeth reaching out to touch a marble statue of Athena, and he remembers not bothering to mention that they weren't allowed to touch the exhibits, just because Annabeth looked so full of curiosity.

"Are you still going to go to school for that?" Annabeth asks now, just as curious as she was at the museum. "I know it means a lot to you."

Percy shrugs shyly. "Might minor in it."

She smiles to herself, shaking her head. "You do realize that you almost never speak in full sentences, right?"

"Didn't realize," Percy says, then he gives a sheepish smile. "Oh. Guess I do. I mean, I guess I do."

They both laugh for a second, falling quiet just quickly enough to make Percy feel awkward. He wishes he had more to say, if only to keep Annabeth from regretting she stayed back with him.

"How are you?" Percy asks, after a while, when they've stopped to watch a ride as it spins in rapid circles, eliciting screams from those on it. He's heard that a lot of fair rides make people feel alive; give them a rush. They really just make Percy feel sick.

"I'm alright; a little cold. Aren't you cold?"

Percy shrugs. His sweater is thick enough, for the most part, and he's wearing another long sleeve shirt underneath it. "'S fine. But, uh, how are you overall? Not just right now, but in general?" _I remember you had a tough time with your parents sophomore year. I hope it's worked itself out._

"I'm... Better." She nods to herself, raising her eyebrows when a particularly high-pitched scream interrupts her. "Mom and Dad got divorced the summer of sophomore year."

Percy's heart sinks for her, and he drops his eyes to the patchy grass, digging the toe of his shoe into the dirt. "That—That really sucks. And I'm sorry that you had to go through it."

"It's not your fault, Percy," Annabeth says, nothing but genuine. "Thank you, though."

There's a lull in the conversation, and Percy feels like he's dampened her mood; like Annabeth's whole night might be ruined if he doesn't do something about it.

"You like the Ferris wheel?" Percy finds himself asking, without really thinking too much about the implications of the words.

"I can't say I'm the biggest fan of heights," Annabeth says, almost apologetic.

Percy nods immediately. "I know the feeling, believe me. Nearly died of fear when I first got on a plane." He gives a little self-deprecating chuckle, remembering the irritated sighs of the woman beside him, the stewardess who hovered by his side for a good portion of the flight, making sure that he didn't get sick on other fliers. "Like the Ferris wheel, though. Good view."

"Riveting as your sentence fragments are," Annabeth says with a smirk, "I'd really like to get some cotton candy."

"I'll walk with you," Percy offers, half because he doesn't want her to go alone and half because he doesn't want to be alone.

"Thanks," Annabeth replies, pushing her hands inside her jacket pockets. "It sucks to be alone at places like these, I'd think."

Percy hums like he agrees, though he isn't really sure what she means. "It would be lonely."

"You're a man of even fewer words than I remember." She sounds a lot teasing and a little something else, but Percy has trouble pinning it down.

"It was chemistry," he tries to explain. "I had a lot of questions. And I was a sophomore, which means I was at least double the amount of annoying I am now. Probably talked your ear off."

"Either you didn't, or I didn't mind," Annabeth responds, nudging him with her elbow. "There's the guys, over there, if you want to join them. I can walk the rest of the way myself."

Percy opens up his mouth to tell her that it's fine, that he doesn't mind spending a few more minutes by her side, that he doesn't want her walking around such a big fair on her own, but then he realizes the nearest food stand is maybe five feet away, and he might come off as a little, well, _stupid_. He nods. "Alright. I'll see you."

He comes up behind Axe and shoves his cold hand beneath his best friend's collar, laughing when Axe jumps a good foot in the air. "You _fucker_," Axe says, distrust in his eyes.

"It was just an excuse to fondle you, simmer down," Percy jokes, rolling his eyes at his friend. "How was the—what was it, Double Shot?"

"Absolutely terrifying," Axe says with a manic little grin. "But, that's the fun in it, I guess. Not knowing when you're about to plummet to the bottom of the ride. Nothing gets the blood pumping like the potential for death."

"Someone's feeling morbid tonight," Kay says mildly, giving Axe a bewildered look. He shrugs, offering up an explanation of marathoning scary movies with Nico the weekend before.

"The fair closes at 1 AM," Jason says to the group at large. "We can probably hit, like, three more rides with all of the lines."

"Ferris wheel last," Percy suggests. "That's all I care about."

"Yes, Percy, we know about your weird obsession with the _lamest_ ride here."

Percy frowns at Leo. "It's not _lame_—"

"Just cliche," Annabeth puts in, appearing next to Reyna. Percy narrows his eyes at her while she innocently pulls off a little cloud of cotton candy. "It's not a bad thing; it just is."

"At least _my_ ride has a lower death rate," Percy grumbles, and either no one hears him or they don't believe it deserves a response.

Someone drops a mention of Gravitron, and it's only a few minutes before their group stands before the spaceship-like ride, chatting amongst themselves while they wait for their turn. Percy watches the ride spin with nauseating rapidity, eventually turning to watch a guy throw rings at bottles in an attempt to win some cheap stuffed animal that'll probably start threading in a week.

His daughter squeals in delight when she gets one of the smallest prizes available, the man only managing to land one ring on a bottleneck, and Percy can't remember being that grateful as a child. She's got to be a good kid; one of those that people never mind having around, regardless of age and whether or not they like children at all.

"What are you thinking about so deeply over here?" Annabeth says, from somewhere behind him. Percy glances over his shoulder, and when he looks back to the booth, the man and his kid are nowhere to be seen.

"Nothing, just didn't want to look at the ride anymore. It was making me kind of dizzy." Percy nearly smacks his palm to his forehead, feeling weak and idiotic for admitting that he's pretty squeamish, as far as fast moving objects and heights go. Pop in the goriest movie you can think of, and Percy'll barely blink an eye, but threaten to push him on the Ring of Fire and he'll probably faint before you can even escort him to his seat.

"It's actually fun, I promise," Annabeth says. "You don't really feel the spinning because you're going so fast."

"Ugh," Percy mutters, rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand. "How do people get a kick out of this stuff, honestly?"

Annabeth hums in agreement, glancing at the line to make sure their group doesn't go on without her. "I've gathered that Axe is a bit of an amusement park junkie?"

"He is." Percy remembers the eighth grade field trip to Busch Gardens, and the swim team trip to Universal Studios. Axe certainly has a thing for adrenaline. "I think the feeling reminds him of performing."

"He performs?"

"Yeah, like, in a band."

"Oh." Annabeth scuffs her foot on the ground. "Who else is in the band?"

"I was, originally," Percy mentions, off-handedly. "But that was a long time ago. It's just him, Nico, and this college drop-out Travis now. They're really good."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just decided I didn't want to be in it anymore, since I didn't contribute a whole lot. I still help Axe with songwriting here and there, though."

"I meant, like," Annabeth gestures like she isn't sure how to word what she's saying. "Did you play an instrument, or…?"

"Oh!" Percy coughs even if his throat doesn't have an itch, pulling his long sleeves down until they're about mid-palm. "Mostly guitar. Sang a teensy bit, but not much more than that. Axe is better at guitar than I am. And, well, you've heard his voice, I'm sure. Sounds like a damn angel. But, like, a manly, sexier one." _Oh, God_, Percy thinks, in absolute dismay. _What am I even saying?_

"A manly, sexy angel," Annabeth muses. "An apt description. I had no clue angels had access to so much hair dye."

Percy laughs so hard, his ribs hurt a little. Annabeth laughs, too, but mostly she just looks happy that she made him laugh. Percy finds that it's easy to remember why he wanted—_wants_—to be Annabeth's friend as bad as he does.

"You'll miss your ride," he says, after his chuckles have mostly died out. There's still a small smile that won't leave his face.

"I've been on it before," Annabeth responds with a one-shouldered shrug, seemingly unconcerned. "I'd much rather talk about manly and sexy angels."

"What have I done?" Percy asks, rubbing his forehead, pretending to be a lot more regretful than he really is. Percy doesn't really mind when Annabeth teases him, or, at least, he doesn't mind as much as he should. "I'm not going to live this down, am I?"

"Of course not," Annabeth says easily. "Where would be the fun in that?"

;;

The Ferris wheel is always at the very front of their county fair, since it's usually either the first thing people ride or the last thing they do before they leave. Percy sees a line stretching out for a while, but he doesn't mind waiting in the queue so long as he gets his turn.

When it finally gets to them, they section off into groups of various numbers, Percy graciously getting shoved into a cart with Axe and Kay and Nico rather than a stranger he'd have to make small talk with. Nico lets Percy sit on the right side of the carriage because he's a great friend, and Percy leans his head over the side with excitement.

"You're such a kid," Axe says, kicking Percy's shin.

"No, I'm not," Percy says, undermining his own reply with the way he sticks out his tongue at his friend. "I just like how everything gets smaller. It's _relaxing_."

"And yet, you won't even touch the Double Shot."

"I like everything getting smaller at a...slower rate," Percy decides, thinking of the how quickly the Double Shot shoots up and down. "With that ride, you're too busy fearing your death to appreciate the view."

"A valid point," Kay comments. "I think I screamed the whole time."

"You did," Axe tells her drily. "My ears are still ringing."

Percy watches them for a second, happy that his best friend is happy. If anyone deserves a sweet girl, it's Axe. Kay's just the kind of stability Axe needs most days, and Percy doesn't think there's anyone who fits with Axe as well as she does. It's easy to get along with him, sure, but he's not the easiest person to mesh with.

The lights are less dizzying from a distance; less in his face and less blinding and more pleasing to the eye. Percy's having one of those moments where he's thinking about everything and simultaneously nothing at all; where his mind is rushing around something but not giving him long enough to process it. He can see all the people milling around, headcount dwindling at it draws closer to closing time; can see people running and some moving to take a seat, can see small kids holding onto their parent's hand, can see groups just like them walking around with their hands in their pockets since they were too cool to bundle up appropriately for the weather. Percy loves people watching. He wonders if there's any job openings for professional people-watchers.

"He's doing it," Axe stage-whispers to Kay, eyeing Percy nervously.

Percy scowls. "What am I doing?"

"Getting your _philosophical _look," Nico replies. "You always do on this stupid ride."

"One day, you too will see the magic of the Ferris wheel," Percy says, but to be honest, he thinks one has to have a taste for the ride. Maybe they like the scary ones, but he's more than content to go less than ten miles per hour in a tame circle, no more than 60 feet from the ground.

"You're stupid," Nico grumbles, clearly a bit cranky, but Percy knows he doesn't mean it, so he opts for throwing an arm around the kid's shoulder just to annoy him more.

"What's with the attitude? Is it past your bedtime?" Axe teases, crossing his arms and poking out his bottom lip to copy Nico's sullen demeanor.

Nico has murder in his eyes. Percy goes for casual when he pulls his arm back into his own personal space.

By the time they're forced to step out of their carriage, the night's cooled down even more, being about twenty minutes until 1 AM. Percy has a feeling he won't get to sleep until at least 3 in the morning, and his thoughts are confirmed when Axe announces that he needs an icee from the nearest convenience store. Most everyone agrees that they could use a drink, too.

There's a lot of things Percy hates about being a teenager—being ridiculed, the obligation of high school, and general teenage angst just to name a few—but the feeling of staying out late with good friends isn't one of them. Percy has little, if any, experience of being a teenager like they show it in the movies, but late nights like these give him something to pen down in his memories as adolescent bliss.

They pile into their respective cars, most of them promising to meet up at the gas station—Hazel, Reyna, and Nico decide to head home, saying that their parents are waiting for them, but they all vow to hang out again soon. Percy can't help but think it's nice to have more friends; more members in his small crowd of people he loves being around. At least he'll have people beyond Axe to reminisce with at their high school reunions.

He gets home at half past two, and his mom's left him a note directing him to his dinner plate in the microwave, tacking on her customary 'love you, hope you had fun!' Percy stares at it for a while before he tucks it into his pocket, for some reason feeling compelled to keep the insignificant note, and warms up his lasagna.

There's few things more satisfying than lasagna at 3 AM, Percy learns. One of those things is falling asleep directly after.

;;

It's just hit noon on Sunday when Percy gets the text.

It's still the same exact name that she'd entered in sophomore year, still a plaintive "Annabeth C." Percy narrows his eyes and checks the number in his contacts just to make sure Axe hasn't changed his name just to mess with him, and eventually accepts the fact that Annabeth's texted him, for whatever reason.

_Hi, _it says. That's it.

Percy pushes his phone off to the side and keeps up his attempts at finishing his essay. _English 4 is supposed to be _easy, he complains mentally. At this rate, he won't graduate.

Despite his extremely studious research (in which he was both reading Wikipedia articles and playing Solitaire, that is), he still has no clue why Mark Twain was _so _important as far as literature goes. He does, however, come to the conclusion that he'll never be good at Solitaire.

Percy selects a sentence from the Wikipedia article and pastes it directly into his essay. He modifies it, putting the end of the sentence at the beginning, and exchanges the words "light and humorous" to say "light-hearted." A true genius, he is.

Before he can decide where to go from there, Percy glances over to his phone, biting down on his bottom lip. It's not that he doesn't want to talk to Annabeth—since Friday, he's kind of wanted to talk to her non-stop—but he didn't expect her to text first. It admittedly throws him off.

_What would Mark Twain do?_ Percy thinks idly, staring at the guy's name where it sits, bolded, at the top of his paper. For one, Mark Twain wasn't ever introduced to cellphones, so he probably wouldn't even know _how_ to reply to the text, even if he wanted to. And, for two, Mark Twain doesn't really seem like the kind of man who would talk to the girl he likes over text. Percy gets the vibe that he's a really old-fashioned, straightforward type of guy.

Leaning back in his desk chair to stretch, Percy groans. Thinking about Mark Twain probably won't get him through this one.

He replies with a _hey there_, momentarily panicking at how flirtatious it sounds. He tries to cover it up with a _Annabeth, right?_

It apparently works, since she sends back a _Yeah, it is. I didn't know if you had my number anymore._

_wouldnt have deleted it_, Percy types immediately. He's hovering over the blue button, considering going with something else—less heartfelt, maybe—to respond with, but instead he accidentally hits send. Wonderful. Out of curiosity, he scrolls up past the texts they're exchanging now and glances over the ones they'd sent before. He can hardly remember the near two-year old conversations, mostly homework questions or him wondering if there's a test the next day, but there's a few that are just… _nice_, for lack of a better word. Caring little _how are you_s from him and some _remember to bring your book to class_es from her. Percy wishes he could remember why he didn't try to get in touch with her that summer, and now he feels sorry that he didn't—after all, he could have been someone to talk to when she was going through a mess with her parents.

He wants to apologize for it, suddenly, but he figures Annabeth would either shrug it off or tell him ten times over that it isn't his fault. He doesn't bother.

_That's comforting_. Percy blinks at Annabeth's reply, but she doesn't give him a chance to reply before another text comes through. _Are you busy?_

He smiles a little at his phone. Sure, he totally has this essay due tomorrow that'll take him a few hours at the very least, but Annabeth's far more interesting and appealing than Mark Twain's influence on literature. _not at all_, he sends.

_I could use a little help with economics, if you're up for it... _

Economics is by far Percy's easiest class this year, but he doubts he's better at it than Annabeth. He doesn't mention that.

_sure,_ he replies. _but youre gonna tell me everything you know about mark twain_

She sends two question marks back, but tacks on _Deal_ a second later.

_where at?_ Percy asks, holding his phone about an inch away from his face. It's likely that he's one of the more pathetic people in this world.

_Yours? I can't say that my house is the most welcoming of places for guests…_ Annabeth says, and Percy frowns a little at that. He doesn't waste any time sending her his address and telling her to come over whenever she feels like it. He doesn't really _say_ it, but it's an invitation for any day—not just a Sunday where they both have homework to get done.

She gives him an estimated arrival time anyways, so Percy spends his remaining moments wisely by hopping in the shower and letting his mom know that he's having a friend over. She's cooped up in her small little cranny of an office, feet tucked beneath her as she types away on her laptop, glasses perched on the tip of her nose and a cooled cup of tea at her elbow. "Of course, that's fine Percy. You can have Axe over whenever, you know. No need to keep asking."

"It's—" Percy hesitates, leaning his temple on the door frame he's leaning against. "Um, not Axe this time."

That gets his mother's attention. She turns to him with a pleased smile. "Oh, what a surprise! I haven't seen Nico in ages, I should put some cookies in."

Percy chuckles, pushing his still-damp hair out of his eyes. "Not Nico, either. It's Annabeth—remember, my chem partner? Came over once for our research paper?"

Sally gives him a maternal grin, lifting her eyebrows. "Oh, I always liked her." She glances back to her computer. "I had a feeling I wasn't the only one, either."

"Mom," Percy warns.

She holds her hands up, a clear white flag. "I'm not suggesting anything. Just your dear old Mom over here, typing up a novel."

"It'll be the best one yet," Percy says, since he knows Mom thrives under encouragement. "I have a feeling. It'll be _the one_."

"You think?" Sally asks, and she sounds excited, like she agrees. Percy nods with a grin. "Oh, that would be so great, I—" The doorbell dings throughout their home, and his mom's mouth snaps shut. "That would be for you, I'm guessing. Let me know if you need anything, sweetie."

"Thanks, Mom," Percy says, but he makes sure to shut her office door, partially to preserve his privacy, but mostly because he knows his mom needs isolation when she's in writing mode. He gets the door.

Annabeth's dressed casually, which is something Percy hadn't even _considered_; he'd just tossed on track pants out of habit. "Hey," he greets, after a sure but still moment of silence. "Come on in."

"Hi. Thanks."

Percy shrugs mutely, closing the door behind her. He can definitely, one hundred per cent, handle Annabeth's presence for a few hours, especially after a good night of sleep and a day spent lazing around. "Thirsty?"

"Water would be great," she answers, and it's a little awkward for a few seconds while Percy leads them into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets for a cup. He usually drinks out of the old, stained plastic ones, but he thinks Annabeth probably deserves better as a guest. Eventually, he spots a light blue glass from a dining set they had two houses ago. He pulls it down. "How's your weekend been? Well, since the fair, anyways."

Percy clears his throat, like it'll clear the weird tension in the air, too. "'S been nice. Wish the fair was here for longer, to be honest."

"There's always next year," she says optimistically. He passes off the glass of water, and just as she takes it from him, Percy realizes that he didn't bother to ask if she wanted ice. He almost feels rude for a second, but Annabeth takes a grateful sip and sends him a little smile, so he guesses that he did alright. "Anyways, economics."

"Right, economics." Percy shakes himself. He should focus on the actual intention of Annabeth's visit, not whether or not she'll get huffy about a few ice cubes. "What chapter are you guys on?"

"We have the same teacher, I'm pretty sure—Mr. Manassa?" Percy nods. "My class just started the chapter on supply."

Percy mentally sighs in relief. Supply is something he understands, so he won't look like an idiot. He uses his right thumb to rub at the palm of his left hand, grimacing when he realizes his hands are clammy. "Yeah, same. We can—in the living room, if you want?"

"Fine by me," Annabeth replies, and Percy swallows past the weird, sudden dryness in his throat. It's like he's never _seen_ a girl before, Christ. "I started reading the chapter, but it just sounds like gibberish. I hate the way the book's written."

"Really?" Percy's actually read a bit of the chapters, since he didn't think the writing was too excruciating, but to each their own. "I don't know, I kind of like it."

"Good, then. Hopefully you can help me make sense of it." She sits on the couch beside him—not really close, but not really far either, and Percy feels himself settling in more, the jitters wearing off. He knows Annabeth, is the thing, and it's not even the first time she's sat on his couch while they do school work together. She puts her backpack on the floor and digs out her green economics book, the same one Percy has stuffed underneath his bed. "Have you done the chapter work?"

"What?"

"The chapter work," Annabeth repeats, and if Percy didn't know her, he probably wouldn't have noticed how amused she was at his lack of attention. "The work that's due tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah, that," Percy mumbles. Truth be told, he hasn't been doing much at all besides binge-watching old Pokemon episodes on Netflix and playing games on his phone—well, that and a bit of Mark Twain research this morning. "I started it."

"I'm sure," she says, and her tone's some brand of teasing. She glances around, like she's looking for something in particular. "You can go get your backpack, you know."

"I know," Percy replies quickly, sounding a lot more annoyed than he really is. "I was getting there."

Annabeth laughs, and Percy stands up before he melts right into the couch and never leaves her side.

He returns with his laptop tucked under his arm, his Mark Twain paper still up, sharing the screen with his game of Solitaire. Annabeth looks like she might have a laugh at his expense when she sees it, but instead she says, "Explain the difference between supply and quantity supplied to me, please."

And, honestly, Percy's never been in the business of rejecting polite people. He explains to her heart's content.

;;

They really do try to work through their economics assignment, but Percy'll admit that it's been a while since he and Annabeth have talked like normal, save for the night at the fair. It's a little addicting to have short segments of banter, followed by brief references to their days as chemistry partners and mildly rebellious museum explorers, before they force themselves to get back on track. Percy likes the way Annabeth shakes her head every time she realizes that they're surfing a topic far, far from economics. He finds himself focusing on his work just to make sure he's helping her to the best of his ability.

"If I have to write the word 'elasticity' one more time," Annabeth grumbles, sighing in frustration at her paragraph about the determinants of supply elasticity. Percy spares a glance down at his one-sentence answer and decides that Annabeth hasn't really changed at all.

"Let's take a break," Percy suggests, after he watches Annabeth struggle for another minute, scanning the page like she's trying to add _more_ to her paragraph.

"Great idea," Annabeth says abruptly, like she'd been waiting for him to say it. She slams her book shut, tosses her notebook aside, and looks at him expectantly.

He fish-mouths briefly, not really having planned what the break would entail, but he recovers quickly enough. "Did you… Did you want to watch something? And get something to eat, maybe?"

"Yes," Annabeth says, slowly, like he's missing something. "What are we going to watch?"

"I—" He considers his options, but ultimately decides that it should be his guest's choice what they watch. "You can pick. I'll be right back."

He grabs her glass and makes sure to refill it while he's in the kitchen, then proceeds to spend an insubordinate amount of time scanning their pantry for the best snack. They have chips, which is the obvious choice, but Percy's not even sure that Annabeth _likes_ sour cream and onion chips, plus he's not really in the mood.

He narrows his eyes at the shelves. He _knows_ he and Annabeth had to have talked about snack preferences sophomore year. Or—better yet—he just needs to remember what she asked for when they were writing their research paper two years ago.

Percy admits defeat a few seconds later, when his brain reminds him that his memory isn't skilled enough to remember what Annabeth ate the last time she was at his house. On a whim, he snatches up a box of Oreos and returns to the living room.

"I hope you don't mind," she says, and Percy glances up to see her typing away on his laptop. She's relocated to the floor, which is where Percy likes to sit when he's watching things on his laptop anyways, so he sits beside her without a complaint.

"It's fine." Then, he drops the Oreos between them, sliding her newly filled glass of water on the coffee table.

"Thank you," Annabeth says idly, scrolling through Netflix.

"Did—?" Percy cocks his head to the side, giving her a bewildered look. "Did you hack into my Netflix account?"

"It's hardly considered 'hacking' when the password is auto-filled," Annabeth replies boredly. "But if it makes you think I'm cooler than I am, I absolutely hacked your account."

Percy gives her a stupid smile, then forces it down. With time, he's forgotten how _easy_ it is to be around Annabeth. It's a great feeling to be in the presence of someone who has just the sense of humor that's basically a magnet to his taste in banter. "Should work for the FBI."

"Right," Annabeth says drily. "I'd be a hero in that industry, being able to log into computers of teenage boys with no concept of security."

"Hey," Percy says, crossing his arms. "I'm totally conscious. I delete my search histories and stuff. Reset my passwords every so often."

"And what?" Annabeth teases. "Change them from 'swimming1' to 'swimming2'?"

"'Swimming' is _not_ my password," Percy says. Then, after a pause, he sheepishly adds, "Anymore."

She actually snorts. Percy doesn't tend to use that word lightly, unless someone actually, truly, full-heartedly snorts. The sound simultaneously startles him and sends him into a fit of laughter. "Your… It was _really_ 'swimming'?"

"It was fifth grade!" Percy tries to defend himself. His cheeks are red, but it's from a lack of breath rather than embarrassment. Probably.

"Oh my _God_," Annabeth says, sounding dangerously close to choking from laughter. Percy's grateful that he knows CPR. "You're so _predictable_, Percy."

"Am not!"

"What's your password now?" Annabeth questions. "Wait, wait—is it like 'percy2015' or something?"

"Close," Percy hums, raising up one shoulder until it hits his jaw. His shoulder pops. "It's actually just my birth year, then my graduation year. Sometimes I add an 'P' if it requires a capital letter."

"Ah, half-right," Annabeth says, snapping her fingers like she shouldn't have missed it. "What are you up for watching?"

"Whatever's cool." She lingers over a movie that looks Very Serious, and Percy sees his life flash before his eyes until Annabeth scrolls past it. "Something, um, light is preferable."

"I'm guessing _The Boy In The Striped Pajamas_ is out of the question, then," she mumbles, moving past that one as well. She seems to grow tired of the category she's browsing, since she scrolls back up until she can see what he's recently watched.

Pokemon glares back at him. Percy isn't sure if he's embarrassed, or annoyed at his computer for betraying him in front of a pretty girl. "I didn't know they had this on Netflix," Annabeth says simply, clicking on play.

Percy stares at her. "You like it?"

She shrugs. "I've only seen it a few times, but I used to play the games when I was younger. My cousin passed off his Gameboy to me when he got the Nintendo DS, so I was a little behind everyone else, but it was pretty fun."

"We're going to be great friends," Percy informs her. Anyone who'll waste time watching Pokemon with him is immediately a friend. He can't wait to tell Axe.

Annabeth rolls her eyes, but she's smiling anyways. "We already are. Now, hush."

She folds back the tab on the box of Oreos and plucks one out with an appreciative hum, staring intently at the screen. Percy, who silently wonders when his lucky streak started, takes one too.

;;

"She watched Pokemon with me," Percy says, for the fifth time. "It was a dream, Axe. A _dream_."

"So I've heard," Axe says drily. "Four times prior to this one."

"You're the only one who watches it with me."

"It's because I pity you," Axe says, but Percy knows his friend likes the show as much as he does. "She probably feels the same."

For good measure, Percy messes up Axe's hair. It's worth it when his friend gasps like he's been shot. "My hair was so good today," he whines, a few seconds later. "You've ruined all of my hard work."

"Somehow, I think you'll move on," Percy says to his suddenly much more dramatic friend. "Oh, look, here comes Kay."

"Before I've even had the chance to look in a damned mirror," Axe grumbles moodily.

Percy has a feeling that if Annabeth were here, she'd be making a joke at his expense about sexy, manly angels. The thought makes him miss her, a little, since the last time he'd been able to hang out with her was approximately three days ago. Before he can witness another conversation between Axe and Kay, where they turn into bumbling idiots that talk about everything except their very obvious _something_, he jogs ahead to reach the courtyard.

There's always students lazing around out here before class, especially since it's finally hit October and the weather's nothing short of perfect—a good amount of sun with a fair amount of breeze. He sees a group of people sitting in a circle right on the concrete, playing what looks like some form of charades, a girl leaning against a brick building flipping through a textbook, and tons of other kids standing around and chatting. Percy bypasses them all, making a beeline for the vending machines.

The soda machines at his school are almost always out of everything, but Percy still holds his breath when he requests a Coke Zero. By some dumb luck, the machine has one in stock and drops it into the box.

He's reaching down to get it when someone hip bumps him, very nearly sending him careening into a brick wall. He recognizes the shoes before he even looks up at the person. "Hi," he says, breathless after nearly getting himself concussed.

"Morning," Annabeth chirps brightly, and _ugh_, he'd forgotten that she was a morning person. She pushes six coins through the slot just like he did and requests a Coke Zero. He hears the tell-tale sigh of a student who's been told that their choice of drink is out of order. "You'd think they'd restock these things beyond the Sprite Zero," she mutters under her breath, but admits es defeat, pressing down on the button for a Sprite Zero instead.

Percy looks down at the Coke Zero in his hand. "They did," he says, slowly. "I just took the last one."

She glances at his drink, scoffing. "Of course you did, you horrible, horrible human." She retrieves her Sprite Zero, knowing better than to open it straight away, and turns towards him. "How'd you do on the supply test in econ?"

"Made an 87," Percy shares. "You can have the Coke, if you want it."

Annabeth waves him off, shaking her head. "It's fine. Thank you."

"Are you _sure_?" He draws out the last word, raising his eyebrows. It might be a lie, but he still says, "I don't mind Sprite, anyways."

"The Sprite Zero is awful, and we both know it," Annabeth says, clearly not buying in. She smiles at him nonetheless. "Really, thanks, but I'll live without a Coke."

"I—" Percy's not sure why he's struggling with this, but he _wants_ Annabeth to have it. He doesn't want anything to get in the way of her having a perfect day; doesn't want her spirits dampened in the slightest, even if it's just a soda. _It's not like it's going to make or break her mood_, Percy tries to tell himself, but it doesn't change his mind. "Really. You should take it."

"Why do you want me to take this soda so bad?" Annabeth questions, confused, but still smiling at him. "Did you shake it, or something?"

"No," Percy says, with every bit of sincerity he can muster. "I swear. It's in perfect condition; I haven't even opened it. Here," he offers it out with one hand, using the other to swipe her Sprite Zero. "It's yours."

She takes it, but not without a hesitant look. "I can't tell if you're just being nice, or if you have some evil plan going on here."

"I can open it for you, if you don't trust me." She positions her hands to open it herself, giving him a warning look. "I swear, it's safe."

"You're weird," she informs him, but unscrews the cap anyways. Fizz doesn't spill out over the top, and Annabeth takes a still-cautious sip. "Alright, I guess you aren't evil."

Percy smiles widely, and it takes him a second to get it down from 100-watt to something more calm. "Yeah, I'm not."

Before he can think of something even more lame to say, the bell rings. Annabeth tips her Coke at him in one last thanks before she brushes past him, squeezing his arm as she goes. Percy, like he's in a movie and he's just been kissed by his crush of 10 years, reaches up and cradles his arm where she touched him.

"Your arm hurting you, man?" Jason says, passing by Percy on his way to gym. Percy's always felt bad for Jason, having to work out his first class of the day. "I can get my mom, if you need her."

"I'm fine," Percy says quickly, dropping his hand. He doesn't need a _nurse_, not unless the particular nurse can cure him of his crush on Annabeth that's apparently back at full force. "Tell her I say hi, though."

Jason nods, bidding him goodbye, and carries on towards the gym. Percy looks in the direction Annabeth headed off in, like she'll be coming back, for whatever reason.

She isn't, and Percy's an idiot. He groans under his breath and goes to class.

;;

"I don't like asparagus," Annabeth mentions over lunch, a few weeks later. Because this is a thing they do now, apparently. Axe and Kay had been the ones who had unified their two respective groups, and now the party of ten claims the table just beside the cafeteria doors.

"I like it okay," Reyna puts in, but she shrugs after. "It doesn't really taste like anything."

"It tastes like awful," is Leo's response. He scrunches up his nose. "All vegetables taste awful."

"It's beyond me how you ever grew past two feet," Axe says, flatly. "I _love_ vegetables, and you're, like, a foot taller than me."

Percy's not even sure why they're having this conversation, but he knows that Annabeth's hair is messy today like she woke up late and didn't even bother with it. Her shirt's purple, and it looks nice on her—though, to be fair, there isn't all that much Percy would say Annabeth looks _bad_ in. She folds her hands on the table in front of her, nodding as she listens to Piper say something, and Percy watches as she fidgets with her own fingers, twisting one of her rings idly.

It isn't until one of those hands waves in his direction that he realizes he was staring. Annabeth could probably make the assumption that he was looking at her chest, but instead she just looks concerned. "Are you alright? You've been out of it since lunch started."

Percy's not sure what's wrong with him. Ever since he woke up, every word that's been said to him echoes around in his head until it's really just chaos. He's been having issues focusing in all of his classes thus far, much to the disappointment of his teachers. _You'd been doing so well_, Mrs. Keaves from English had told him. It had made him feel guilty, which was probably her intention. "I'm alright," he says, after a few seconds. "Probably need more sleep."

"You can go nap in my mom's office," Jason pipes up, leaning away from his conversation with Nico. "She'd be cool with it."

"Leo and I have a few Vitamin Waters and energy drinks in our locker if you need one," Piper adds, and Leo nods his assent immediately.

Percy shrugs, feeling a little uncomfortable with all of the attention from his friends. Most of them have turned, giving him worried looks. Well, except for Reyna and Nico. They mostly look confused as to why everyone else is so worried. "I'm fine; it's not that bad. Thanks, though."

"Are you sure? I can ask Sally if it's cool for us to leave early," Axe says, since he and Percy carpooled today.

"Guys," Percy says, rubbing his forehead and laughing. It turns into a wince when the sound worsens his headache. He'll admit that it feels nice to be cared about, but it's nothing more than a little smidgen of sleep deprivation. He'll live. "I'm _fine_. Your concern is really nice, though."

"Of course we're concerned," Leo coos, reaching out to pinch Percy's cheek. Percy bats his hand away. "You're our little ol' Percy."

Percy crosses his arms, glaring at him. "I am not a child."

"Petulance, key sign of an infant," Annabeth stage-whispers to Reyna and Hazel, conspiratorial. They nod along with solemn expressions.

"Annabeth," Percy complains with exasperation.

"Easily annoyed," Hazel adds. "Seems infant-y to me."

"You guys are the worst."

"Ungrateful," Axe lists. "God, babies are so ungrateful. You sit there and do everything for them and they _still _cry."

"They're kids, they don't know any better," Kay says, patting Axe's shoulder.

"Why are we having this conversation?" Percy asks the two groups at large. Now that he thinks about it, maybe they're kind of one group now.

"Because we're very concerned for your health and safety," Annabeth tells him, like she's his mother. He rolls his eyes, and Annabeth turns serious again. "Hey, seriously, are you okay?"

Everyone else has started up conversations—Axe and Kay chatting about her younger siblings, Jason and Nico discussing the best Halloween costumes, and, well, Percy's not really sure what the rest of the girls and Leo are talking about, but judging by the unimpressed looks on their faces, it's nothing good. Percy's eyes go back to Annabeth, who's staring him down like whatever's off with him'll jump out at her. "Really. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

She holds his gaze for a few seconds, trying to determine how honest he's being, more likely than not, and slowly nods. "Alright. Promise me you'll let someone know if you start feeling worse?"

Percy nods immediately, and Annabeth turns away when Piper taps her on the shoulder. He watches a curl fall out of her half-hearted updo, and really, truly, questions his own sanity. Since when is hair endearing, honestly?

Later, when Percy gets home, his mom's all over him—checking his temperature, making him drink some concoction that'll apparently strengthen his immune system, interrogating him about his symptoms. As it would happen, Percy has a fever, and as it would also happen, she refuses to let him leave his room until his sickness passes.

He messes around on his phone for a while, downloading a few games and uninstalling them when they don't strike his fancy. After an hour or so of that, though, Percy's bored out of his mind. He texts Axe.

_im bored_

_you told mom i was sick and now im not allowed to leave my room_

He tacks on what looks like a fairly annoyed emoji, and then he goes back to his so-far fruitless search of a decent game to play.

Not even two minutes later, Percy gets a text, but it's not a reply from Axe. It's Annabeth, saying _I heard you can't leave your room. How are you feeling?_

_what_, is how Percy, very eloquently, replies. _why are you with axe_

_We're all hanging out at Rosie's_, Annabeth tells him. _It's not the same without the whole gang._

Which, Percy thinks, has to be code for _it's not the same without you_. He smiles, but he's usually smiling when he's talking to her, so it's not saying much. _im jealous_, he answers. Then he sends a second text saying _of course it's not the same im the life of the party_, which is pretty far from the truth. Percy's really more the floater of the party, who partially enjoys himself and partially really wants to go home.

_How are you feeling?_ Annabeth asks for the second time, reminding Percy that he never answered her in the first place.

Percy: _im FINE barely even a fever_

Annabeth C.: _If you say so… Are you going to be at school tomorrow? I can get your work for you, if you need me to._

That's sweet, Percy thinks. Unnecessary, but sweet. He was planning on getting Axe to tell his teachers where he's at, and he doesn't want to make her spend the extra time walking around to all of his classes, picking up work he probably won't do until he gets back to school anyways.

Percy: _thanks but you dont have to. Usually Axe does all of that_

Annabeth C.: _Axe said it's fine if I take care of it. I can bring it by tomorrow after school, if that's okay?_

"Annabeth," Percy groans aloud. She's making his life incredibly difficult right now, just by being nice to him—something he appreciates all in all, but she doesn't have to be this way just because he's feeling a little under the weather. He scrolls up and down in their conversation, delaying his answer for as long as possible.

The thing is, Percy's used to Annabeth's witty remarks—used to her teasing him like it's about to go out of style, used to her laughing at him rather than with him in a way that he really finds cute when he should be offended. But he's definitely not used to Annabeth being _caring_ and _overly nice_, and it's throwing him off. He kind of wants her to say something sarcastic and teasingly mean towards him, just to keep the world on it's balance.

Annabeth C.: _I'm going to come over whether you tell me to or not, so your answer really doesn't matter. What's your schedule?_

_And there it is_, Percy thinks, lips quirking up as he reads the message. _That's better._

Annabeth texts him for a while after that, even at Percy's insistence that she should talk to the people she's with instead of blowing them off to talk to his sickly self. She tells him to shut up twice, then lets him know that she would rather talk to him, and Percy sinks a little further into his bed with each message that rolls through from her. If he weren't _actually_ sick, he would probably claim it's Annabeth that's getting his temperature up.

He falls asleep after a while, in some space where there's a lull between his last message and Annabeth's reply, and when he wakes up, his sheets are more or less soaked in sweat.

Percy takes a second to groan into his pillow, kicking at his blankets until they fall off his bed. He groans again.

He doesn't think to check the time until he's in the kitchen, banging around in the cabinets without much coordination, searching for some medicine to bring his fever down so he can sleep without feeling like he's going to melt. It's past 3 AM. The good news is that his thoughtless slamming of cabinets woke his mom up, but the bad news is that they're all out of medicine. Percy could cry.

She gives him an aspirin, even if they hardly ever do anything for him, and promises to head to the store first thing in the morning. She checks his temperature again before they both stumble off to their rooms.

He knows Axe won't be awake, but that doesn't stop him from sending a string of complaints about how hot he is. Percy somehow makes sure to blame Axe for getting him sick, calling him a "carrier" since they both know Axe has the immune system of some hyper-healthy person.

As usual when Percy gets sick, he finds it impossible to get comfortable and sleep. He's either too hot or too cold. The only truly comfy position he finds is when he tucks his arms beneath his chest, face buried in his pillow, but he knows he'll hate himself when he suffocates in the middle of the night, or wakes up with aching arms from resting his weight on them for so long. He frowns at his ceiling. _God_, he's bored.

Eventually, he results to the most boring thing he can think of: trying to create a mental timeline from what they're learning in his history class. Predictably, it gets him to sleep, but only for about an hour before he wakes up with the shivers.

Once he starts awake at 7 AM, he decides that there's no going back. His mom leaves to get him medicine as soon as she wakes up, as promised, but Percy knows the flu's set in by now, and he has very little chance of a quick and painless recovery.

He showers. Lies around for a few hours, takes a long nap, eats a hearty meal of toast and a handful of saltines. His mom passes him water bottle after water bottle, and Percy lets himself be coddled. After all, some years from now, he'll be living alone, forced to combat his cold by himself.

When Annabeth texts him to say she'll be over soon, Percy only feels a little guilty for forgetting about her existence in his fever haze. He drags himself into the shower and spends a lot of time adjusting the temperature of the water.

He's just barely managed to tug his shirt over his head, eyes stinging either because he got shampoo in them or because he's extremely overheated, but he makes it to the door in one piece.

Annabeth, as usual, shows some seriously sparkling sympathy. "You look awful," she greets. "You have a review packet in math."

Which, Percy thinks, is quite a few bad things to process in his current state. "Ugh," he says, stepping away from the door and leaving Annabeth with the duty of closing it. She does.

"On the bright side, I brought you various soups." She lifts a grocery bag. Percy blinks at it before squeezing his eyes shut. Maybe he'll feel less in love if he doesn't look at her. "Oh, hi Ms. Jackson! I missed you last time."

Percy lifts one eyelid from where he lays sprawled on the couch. Annabeth and his mom chat as they walk to the kitchen, but Percy doesn't have the strength of mind to listen. _Soup_, he thinks pathetically. His mind even gives a half-pleased, half-exasperated little sigh.

"Soup," Percy mutters to himself. Then he promptly falls asleep. Or passes out. Something.

;;

When he opens his eyes, he can see his mom leaning over him, and he can feel her cool hand resting on his forehead. "You alright, dear? Your soup is ready. Annabeth brought it for you."

Percy wonders why moms talk to their kids like they've become babies again when they get sick. "I know. She's great."

Sally and another person laugh, and _right_, Annabeth's here. Percy should probably wake up a little more a let his brain-to-mouth filter do it's job.

He's still hot and cold at the same time, and he kind of wishes he would have stayed asleep. Even if Annabeth's sitting in front of him, explaining what they did in economics, and handing him a stack of papers. She looks so sincere about the whole exchange that Percy can't do anything more than eat some of his soup. "I wrote down your math homework, too, but your teacher said you can work it out with her when you get back, since you missed the quiz today as well." Percy nods to show that he's listening, but he's really less worried about his math homework and more worried about the way his muscles seem more and more reluctant to bring his spoon to his mouth. Eventually, he gives up, staring at his half-finished and mostly cooled dinner.

"Feeling any better?" Annabeth's brow dips worriedly. Percy wants to smooth it with his thumb. He doubts he has the coordination, strength, or concentration to do that right now, so he refrains.

"Loads," he lies, offering up a brief smile. "Thanks for my work."

"You're welcome," Annabeth says, then she checks her phone. "My dad's calling—I really should be getting home."

"Of course." Percy pats his hair down, but it's probably a lost cause. "Yeah, I'll—later. Thanks again. For…"

"You're welcome," she repeats, even if Percy never said what for. "See you Monday?"

"Maybe." Percy clears his throat and fidgets with his spoon. "Really, thank you."

"Really, you're welcome," she responds with a smile that Percy only gets to see every once in a while. He smiles back on reflex. "I'll see you."

Annabeth gives him a grin before she goes, and Percy's pretty sure it remedies a fair bit of his illness. She must be a god, or something. Goddess. Goddess of healing. Percy's pretty sure there's already a god of healing, probably one who's stamping their foot indignantly at Percy's neglect to recognize them, but he'll take the wrath if it means she looks at him like that again.

Percy's never been all that great at being on his own. Quiet time leads to thinking time, and thinking time leads to over-thinking, and over-thinking tends to lead to him underestimating his self-worth. He likes being around people; likes to help, if he can, even if it's by making them laugh, or cheering them up, or being someone to talk to. He feeds off of good energy and tends to get bored and sulky when he's alone.

Thankfully, since his mother is still the best person on earth, despite Annabeth's abrupt and unforeseen entry into the competition, she offers to watch something on TV with him. And even if she sits on the other end of their couch, volunteering to get Percy medicine every time he so much as clears his throat, it's a lot better than trying to find a game worth his time.

;;

By the time Monday rolls around, Percy's made a full recovery. Well, mostly.

Saturday brought him a raw throat and a nasty cough, but since his mother was waiting on hand and foot, he took enough medicine to knock it out before it could really develop. His throat still hurts a little, but it's nothing a lozenge won't fix, and his head feels a little fuzzy from the few days spent either sleeping too much or too little, but he's alive and well. He decides to go to school and he's running even later than usual.

By the time he arrives, he's ran two red lights—one right in front of a cop who either wasn't paying attention or simply didn't care—and probably pissed off the entire population of his town. He nearly knocks a freshman to the ground in his rush to get to class, his teacher's words ringing in his ears.

_One more tardy, Mr. Jackson, and it'll be out of my hands and into the dean's._ Percy personally doesn't care about tardies, since his first period never really gets rolling until it's ten minutes in, but he doesn't want his parking pass pulled. Or his mother's sad, understanding look when he tells her about something else he's screwed up.

He steps over the threshold right as the bell rings, and Percy feels like he might faint with relief. Or maybe that's all the running. _Christ_, he really needs to get in shape in time for swim season.

"Jackson, how nice of you to join us," Mrs. Keaves drawls, obviously not amused.

He ignores her tone and slips into his seat in the front row. A seat he abhors with every fiber of his being, but still the seat he was assigned. "Sorry."

The thing about Mrs. Keaves is that she'll let you get away with most anything, so long as you apologize. "It's fine, Mr. Jackson. Are you feeling any better? Annabeth told me you weren't well."

Percy feels his face heat up at the extra attention from Mrs. Keaves and his classmates. "Yeah, I wasn't. Better now."

"I'm glad to hear that," she replies, rifling through a folder before dropping a stack of papers on his desk. "Here's your essay and your last test. Let me know if you have any questions." She wanders past Percy, giving papers to a few other students who were absent. "And today, we'll be getting some background on another important and influential writer: William Shakespeare."

There isn't much of a response from the class, but Percy releases a groan within his mind. If they're going to study Shakespeare, he might as well start calling English his foreign language class.

;;

"Hey, it's you!" is how Axe greets Percy. As if he hasn't seen his best friend in months, rather than just a few days.

"You missed first period. And, yeah, it's me," Percy agrees, a little less enthusiastic than his friend. Axe just beams at him. "Did I... Did I miss something?"

"Nope," Axe tells him, popping the 'p.'

"Right," Percy says slowly.

"I think I have a date, though," Axe tacks on, like it's nothing. "Probably. An arranged meeting, anyways."

"With...?"

"Who do you think, Percy? Use that talented brain of yours."

There's definitely some underlying sarcasm there that he should be more offended about, but all he can do is grin at his friend. "_Axe_."

"It's not a big deal," Axe mutters, but his face is definitely redder than it was a few seconds ago. "Just. You know."

Percy rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I know."

Axe lets out a besotted sigh. Percy tries really hard to act like it disgusts him, but the truth of the matter is, Axe's happiness is pretty far up on Percy's list of important things. The guy's been through a lot, and never fails to be there when a friend finds themselves in a rough situation, so Percy would say that he deserves to have good things. Probably more than most.

"We're going downtown," Axe says after a while, just before they enter the cafeteria. "She said she wants to hear me play. And then, like, dinner. I hope."

"That's great, Axe," Percy says, squeezing his best friend's shoulder. "I'm happy for you."

"I know you are, you great big sap," Axe says flippantly, nudging Percy forward into the crowded room. Percy can't say his head is too thrilled with all of the noise, but he does have to push down a smile when all of his friends cheer his name from where they're sitting near the double doors, like he's returned from war or something.

"Hi," he greets, resisting the urge to smooth his hopelessly wrinkled plaid shirt.

"We missed you," Leo says, pouting at him with wide eyes. "You were gone for so long."

"He missed one day of school," Annabeth points out, but she gives Percy a look that seems to say she's glad he's back, too.

"Don't act like _you_ didn't miss him, Chase," Axe says, pointing his fork at her. Percy, confused at where Axe got food, glances down to see Kay's tray placed in between the two of them. _How disgusting. _"If I've learned anything these past few days, it's how often Percy comes up in conversation when he's not around."

Percy casts a mildly frightened glance at Axe. "Please tell me you didn't tell everyone embarrassing stories."

"Only a few," Axe promises, but the smirk on his face tells another story. "Like the Christmas sweater in fifth grade. And the haircut in seventh. And the tryouts for the school play in third grade—remember? For _The Princess and The Pea_?"

"You're the worst friend I've ever known," Percy says without much bite.

"The Christmas sweater was cute," Piper comforts, but she looks dangerously close to laughing.

"The haircut wasn't _awful_," Hazel says, and the worst part might be that she sounds sincere.

"Think of it this way: they've now seen you at your worst, and they still tolerate you now," Axe says, clapping Percy on the back. "That's a win if you ask me."

Percy sighs, but it's not really out of annoyance. It's more of a reluctant acceptance that his friends are both the best and worst people he knows.

"Oh, Percy, I meant to ask," Annabeth says suddenly, getting every ounce of Percy's attention, even with Leo offering him candy from the left. "Do you think you could help me out with economics again? The price chapter is tripping me up."

Percy wishes he knew how to smile at Annabeth normally, and wishes that he didn't light up like a Christmas tree every time she turned her grey eyes on him. "Yeah, sure. When?"

"I was thinking maybe..." Annabeth trails off, looking a touch uncomfortable and maybe even annoyed. Percy glances at his other friends, and raises his eyebrows when he realizes they're all watching Percy and Annabeth's exchange with interest. It seems to take them all a second to realize they shouldn't be.

"So, Nico, you still up for Halloween Horror Nights?" Axe asks, hesitantly.

Everyone is jarred out of their staring by those words; stemming off into their own conversations with whoever's around them. Percy looks back to Annabeth with a tight smile. "You were thinking...?"

"Right," Annabeth says, shaking her head. "Tomorrow? Wednesday?"

"Tomorrow's fine," he answers, trying to sound casual rather than over-eager. He just likes Annabeth's company, is all. "Anytime, really. I'm not a busy guy."

Axe apparently has a muscle spasm, because he kicks Percy's shin. _Hard_. Percy grits his teeth through the pain and kicks him back.

Annabeth gives him a weird look, like she notices something's off. She doesn't ask. "Yeah, tomorrow's good for me, too. Thanks."

Percy smiles at her until she smiles back. "Okay. You're welcome."

"Yeah," Annabeth says, which makes little to no sense at all. She twirls one of her curls and leans over a textbook for some AP class, by the looks of it. She's really, really, devastatingly cute while she reads, Percy comes to learn. Focus looks good on Annabeth.

"Dude," Axe says lowly. "I know Sally taught you that staring's rude."

"I'm not"—Percy tears his eyes away from Annabeth—"staring. I know you learned the hard way that making assumptions isn't nice." He's not really sure if that's true, but Axe narrows his eyes anyways.

Percy glances back at Annabeth. She's looking back, and in a lapse of judgement, he waves at her. Stupid, Percy thinks. She probably assumes they were talking about her now. To be fair, they kind of were. He's sure he looks guilty.

"Stupid," Axe says under his breath. Percy scowls.

;;

"The answer is 4, not 6," Annabeth says, tapping his paper with her pencil. Percy stares at her hand for a second, but eventually forces his eyes over to the problem. She leans closer until she's reading the paper over his shoulder, readjusting his book so that she can see what the question was asking. Percy doesn't move a muscle. "Like, look… The price floor is here. The equilibrium is here. That's a surplus of 4 units, not 6."

Two weeks ago, Annabeth came over with the premise of getting guidance on her economics homework. They ended up wasting too much time talking, eventually boycotting the idea of finishing their homework early, and ended up watching _The Hunger Games_. She came over again on Thursday, and then they really did finish their homework—Annabeth a good half hour before Percy. She made a 97 on the quiz they had on Friday, quite a few points ahead of his typical score of an 85. Percy's calling bullshit.

"I'm calling bullshit," he announces, dropping his pencil on top of his notebook. It rolls until it's about to fall off the table, and Annabeth reaches out to catch it before he can.

Annabeth scowls at him, holding his pencil just out of his reach like it's a hostage situation. "Percy, the answer is 4. It's not 6."

"No, not on—" He shakes his head, reaching out for his pencil, but Annabeth only shifts back further. He relents. "No, you're right. I know that."

"Good." She sits back in her seat, satisfied, and deposits his pencil into his hand. "What's bullshit, then?"

"You don't need help with economics," he declares, gesturing to her nearly finished homework. He'll bet that every single one of them are correct, too. "Especially not my help. You understand this better than I do."

"That's not true," Annabeth says, affronted. He can't tell if she's offended on his behalf, or her own. She clears her throat, like she's about to say something important, but she doesn't look him in the eye. "I really did need help with the supply chapter."

"But you're fine with price. Great with price, even."

"Thanks. Now what did you get for number 7?"

"Annabeth—"

"Percy," she says, and she sounds just as exasperated as she looks. He looks at her to show that he's all ears. She keeps his gaze for maybe a millisecond before she glances away, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Just… Economics. We have work to do."

"You could do it alone, though," he starts, trying to prove his point, refusing to take his eyes off her. Her skin is distractingly tan, with just barely visible freckles here and there. "You don't need my help."

Annabeth sighs, turning to look at him blankly. Some emotion skitters across her face too quickly for Percy to decide what it is, then she scowls, crossing her arms. "If you really wanted to get rid of me _that_ bad, you could have just said it."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, the air falls flat. Percy feels like time stops for a few moments, while Annabeth glares at him with hurt and anger swimming in her eyes. He's so stunned by the change in atmosphere that he has trouble forming a decent response, and she stares at him, like she's waiting for something, but Percy isn't sure what she wants from him. _Oh no_, he thinks with a sense of dread. "I don't—Annabeth, that's not what I…"

She waits for him to finish his sentence, but once it becomes apparent that he has no intention to, she just closes her book. "Really, don't worry about it," Annabeth says, far too lightly to be genuine. "I understand."

"I don't want you to leave," Percy blurts out, and it sounds a lot more dramatic than he meant for it to. _Go big or go home_, some demented part of him thinks. "I just wanted to make a point."

"Point made," Annabeth says without inflection, and Percy throws an arm across her book to prevent her from picking it up. She pushes at his arm, though not with enough force to actually move it. Percy tries to catch her eye, so that he can apologize _right_, but she just stares at the place where her knuckles are pressing against his arm.

"You don't get it," Percy says, and it sounds more gentle than he means for it to. "I'm not saying that, like, I don't want to spend time with you." She still won't look at him, but she might nudge him a little with her hand, so he takes what he can get. "I just… Maybe we could just do what we did last week? Where we talked? And we don't have to say we're doing homework every time we hang out. We can just say that we're hanging out. I mean, if we're doing homework, then we can say that. There's nothing wrong with doing homework together. And I like having a study partner; that's cool. But we don't have to be study partners _all _the time, right? Like we can be friends? Who do friend things?"

"Friend things," Annabeth mutters, sending him a small smile. Percy's internal organs perform an intense gymnastics routine. "Like what?"

"Like—" Percy pauses. "Like, talk. And watch TV. And, like, me and Axe go to the park sometimes, but that's mostly because there's never kids there and he wants to smoke and look at the lake and be all philosophical and stuff. But I don't think you're a smoker."

Annabeth lips twitch, like she's dangerously close to laughing at him. She slides her knuckles over his wrist briefly before removing her hand altogether. Percy finds that it's a little harder than usual to pull air into his lungs. "I'm not."

"Well," Percy says, blinking at her. He can feel his pulse pounding in his wrist. "Good."

"Good," Annabeth repeats, with a very serious nod. She's definitely picking on him now.

"So…" He trails off, removing his arm from her book. "We could, uh, watch something?"

She smiles fully, now, and Percy is but a few Annabeth smiles away from passing out. "I can't," she says. "Dinner with Dad."

Percy nods too many times, almost dizzying himself in the process. "Of course, it's—yeah, don't—we'll... Next time."

"Was that even English?" Annabeth teases, raising an eyebrow. Percy can feel a flush working it's way up his neck, so he tries to be casual when he pulls the collar of his hoodie up a little.

"It was," Percy says, needlessly. Annabeth's packing up her bag, albeit slowly, like she's still waiting for him to say or do something that he just can't seem to pin down. He tucks his bottom lip into his mouth and averts his gaze.

"And, for the record, even if I don't need help, I still want you as a study partner. I mean, we worked well together in chem. Remember?"

"Nope," Percy says, sending her a look. "Completely forgot those 9 weeks of sophomore year."

"You aren't even a quarter as funny as you think you are," she says blandly. Her bag's packed, but she doesn't start for the door. Percy feels something like nerves inching up his spine.

He draws in a deep breath. His mother raised him right; he's been taught to walk guests out when they're exiting their home. Percy's just worried that he'll do something stupid with Annabeth.

"Still makes me pretty funny," he says, after a bit of a delay. "I'll—Let me walk you out."

Annabeth nods immediately, and he leads her to the door. She steps out, and some part of him has a reflex to pull her back in, like he hasn't quite gotten his fill of her company. He manages to restrain himself. "I don't mean to skip out on you."

Percy gives a small, nervous laugh. He rubs the back of his neck and idly pulls at his hair to calm himself down. "Dinner's a good excuse."

She nods, then looks down at her feet. "I... I didn't mean to freak out on you earlier. You struck a nerve, but it was one you didn't know was there, so it's not your fault."

Percy waits for her to continue, tipping his head forward and staring down at his socked feet. One blue sock's just slightly more faded than the other.

"It's kind of a sore spot, the whole 'people not wanting me around' thing. Um, the short version is that Mom and Dad were kind of at each other's throats during the divorce. Not really much time for the kid. And the typical 'you're just like your father' comments were certainly there. And a few bad experiences with friends, too, but... Anyways. It's not really important, I just figured I owed you an explanation."

"You didn't," Percy reassures her, and his heart hurts a little for Annabeth. "But I know how much you like explaining things."

She smiles, and it's small, but it's enough. "Thanks."

Percy shrugs. "'S whatever. And, like, if you ever feel like your parents don't want you around... I mean, you don't have to, of course, but just know that you can just hang out with me. Or text. Or something." _Because I'm getting dangerously close to that stage where I always want you around_, Percy adds silently, but ultimately decides not to voice.

"Thanks, Percy. It means a lot."

She looks, for a moment, like she might hug him. Percy likes hugs well enough, and he wouldn't be averse if she reached out for one, but he's not feeling confident enough to meet her halfway on this one. "I'll see you?"

"You will," Annabeth confirms. She turns and heads for her car, parked out in the road like she wasn't sure if she was permitted to use the driveway. Percy makes a mental note to tell her it's fine next time he sees her.

Just before she settles into the driver's seat, she waves—nothing more than a flutter of her fingertips, but Percy thinks he might be blushing anyways. He waves back.

He closes the door and sands his hands together. _First things first_, Percy thinks, _ask Mom what's for dinner. Then get the Annabeth Situation under control. Because it certainly is not._

;;

He doesn't get the Annabeth Situation under control. That much is made apparent as his palms get clammy every time she so much as says a word to him. Not to mention the seemingly permanent heat that always creeps it's way up his neck until it colors his cheeks. And he can't exactly ignore the way his stomach starts this new thing where it turns over every time she directs a smile at him.

Percy's seen more self-control in over-excited puppies meeting a new person. He wonders if he's as obvious as he feels. He definitely, one hundred per cent, without a doubt, should have commanded the situation when he had any say at all.

She unintentionally pulls him in like a magnet with nearly everything she does. She interrupts people to correct their _grammar_, which is pretentious and annoying, and definitely not something Percy should be attracted to. At all. Except, every time she gets Leo on his double negatives, Percy gets a strange and strong urge to kiss her. It's the most absurd reaction to Annabeth's know-it-all tendencies.

"It's ridiculous," Percy tells Axe, who's being the very best best friend out there, listening to him complain. "I want it gone."

"I don't think it works like that," Axe says idly. He glances at his phone, surely wanting to reach for it, but isn't sure how to do so without seeming rude.

Percy tries for an annoyed sigh, but he falls somewhere around fondly exasperated. "Text her back. Then give me some top-notch Axe Harmon advice."

Axe has the grace to look sheepish as he reaches for his phone, tapping away as he starts talking. "There's not really anything to do, Percy. I mean, when have you ever been able to get rid of a crush? Most people can't. You especially."

Percy frowns. "Why me especially?"

"Because you crush on people very, very violently," Axe replies boredly, but he sends Percy a look that seems to say _it's not a bad thing, happens to the best of us_. "Every time you've ever liked someone, it's, like, embarrassingly obvious. And no doubt impossible to reverse. I'd wait it out."

"I don't want to wait it out," Percy complains, picking the hem of his Henley shirt where it's starting to thread. He's been meaning to go shopping. Even if he and his mother live comfortably now, he still feels guilt-ridden every time he asks for money. "I want it to leave me alone. I want her to be my friend."

"I don't look at my friends like that," Axe says under his breath. Percy throws half an Oreo at him, but it lands harmlessly on his best friend's chest. Axe glances down at it, then shrugs before popping it in his mouth. "Oooh! The mint ones. I love these."

"Axe, focus." Percy snaps his fingers above Axe's eyes. Unconcerned, he just shifts until he's comfortably stretched across Percy's couch, like his best friend isn't having a mild crisis. "Just—how obvious is it?"

"If I didn't know you?" Axe questions. Percy nods. "Oh, I'd assume that you're newlyweds or something."

That doesn't make Percy feel better in the slightest. He groans from where he's leaning against the couch, but Axe just knees him in the back of the head without sympathy. _Some friendship this is_, Percy thinks sullenly, but the truth is, Axe is kind of the best friend he could ask for. Percy's very blessed.

"Hey, listen," Axe says, tone softer than usual. Percy knows what's coming. "You can't help that you like her. And you shouldn't force yourself not to, if you do. You can be her friend _and_ like her, you know."

"You always get the girls you like," Percy says, admittedly jealous of Axe. His friend hasn't had the best life; doesn't have it it half as good as Percy does, and yet sometimes he finds himself wishing he were a bit more like Axe—more outgoing, more balanced, more poised. "How do you do that?"

"Dumb luck. And the whole singing thing helps me out a little."

Percy hums and nods. "Well they sure don't like you for your ugly mug."

"Hey," Axe says, a little offended but mostly warning him. "Don't talk bad about my face. It's right here."

Percy can't help the laugh that escapes him. "Right, I'm sorry for hurting your face's feelings."

"He's not bothered," Axe promises. "He's pretty self-assured, I think."

And that's another thing Percy envies about Axe; he has this easy-going vibe that he exudes, letting everyone know that he'll hear their opinion on him, but it won't bring him to his knees. He's never let someone's words get the best of him; takes everything in stride, remaining content with who he is, and never changes unless he's doing it for himself. Percy's always wanted to be like that. It's probably why he gravitated to Axe when they were in the first grade, when the boy always stepped up to the plate in music class while Percy cowered in the corner.

Axe perks up after a second, staring hard at the side of Percy's face. He keeps his eyes on the ceiling, not really feeling up to a soul-deep conversation with Axe.

His friend seems to understand. He nudges Percy's head with his knee again and again until Percy turns to him. "Hey, want to help me dye my hair?"

"You carry hair dye with you?"

"No, but my car does," Axe answers. Percy gives him an incredulous look. "What? You never know when you might need it."

"Remind me why we're friends again?"

Axe seems to ponder this briefly, then he shrugs. "Eh, whatever. Probably best that we don't question, yeah?"

He hops up off the couch a second later, very nearly stepping on Percy's hand, and goes out to his car to get the hair dye he carries around with him just in case. It's incredibly Axe, if nothing else.

And, Percy guesses, if he can't get rid of the Annabeth Situation, he might as well just distract himself from it. He helps Axe dye his hair.

;;

"Red _and_ purple?" is how the majority of their friends greet Axe. The rest of them say 'purple _and_ red?'

"Percy was very helpful," Axe says politely, gesturing to him. "Spent hours working on it."

Percy lifts up his stained hands to prove it. "I sure did."

"He needed the distraction."

Percy turns his head so fast, he's pretty sure he hears a few joints pop. "I did _not_," Percy says, very slowly. Axe looks at him impassively.

"Right, and while we'd all love to sit here and watch you two argue, I need a favor from Axe," Reyna says, before Percy can muster up his best glare. "Can I interview you for the school paper? We're doing an article on talented students."

Axe nods immediately, eyebrows raising in interest at any chance to talk about his passion. He and Reyna step off to the side to compare schedules, searching for an open time slot that matches up for a meeting. Percy tries to drill a hole through Axe's stupid, thick skull with only his eyes.

"Hey," Annabeth says, sidling up to Percy and knocking her shoulder against his. "Walk me to class."

Another thing that should probably annoy Percy is Annabeth bossing him around here and there. It doesn't. If anything, he's always more than happy to go along with whatever she says. Which is, like, pathetic as hell, but Percy doesn't see himself doing anything to change that in the near future. "Of course," he replies immediately, and inwardly cringes at how eager he sounds. "I mean, sure. If you want." He might outwardly cringe, this time. _God_, he's embarrassing.

Annabeth, for her part, looks more amused than anything else. She leads the way. "Is everything alright?" she asks, after they're a good distance away from the rest of their group.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just seemed tense, with Axe," she says casually. "Wanted to make sure you guys hadn't had a fall out or anything."

"You're speaking in sentence fragments," Percy mentions, a smile working it's way across his face.

"Probably because I'm hanging around your grammatically incorrect self too much," Annabeth replies, sounding a lot more annoyed than she looks. Percy bites his bottom lip to reel the smile in before it goes from amused to smitten. "But, really, all good?"

Percy gives her a dorky thumbs up. He kind of hates his reflexes. "Yep. It's all good."

"Busy today?"

"Another sentence fragment," Percy sing-songs, and somehow it's gratifying to give Annabeth a taste of her own medicine.

She gives a loud sigh, but her eyes are bright. "Percy, are you busy today?"

He ducks his head, but it doesn't do much to hide his smile. "I'm not. Coming over?"

"I'm not so sure that I want to, now that you've gone out of your way to correct me," Annabeth teases, stopping a few feet away from her classroom door. She pulls her backpack further up her shoulder. "My pride is easily wounded."

_I know_, Percy wants to say, because he does know—because that was something she'd shared with him in confidence sophomore year. "Noted," Percy says instead, because Annabeth probably doesn't think he remembers. It might even be weird that he still remembers. Percy feels like he's trying to fly an airplane for the first time with a blindfold on. A emergency landing would be nice, but he's pretty sure it'll end with a crash.

"I would like to come over, though, if you'll have me," she says, suddenly serious. "I know I've been kind of, like, _living_ there recently. I don't mean to."

Percy lifts one shoulder. "'S okay. I know how it is with your parents." She gives a tight smile, one that says _thanks, but I don't want to talk about that_, and Percy retreats without a fight. "Like I said, you're welcome anytime. You aren't a burden, or anything. And my mom loves you."

"She just loves that I make you do your homework," Annabeth teases, but she looks a little pleased at Percy's words. Her expression sobers up soon, and she looks him in the eye. "You know that you can tell me no, right? I know I kind of give off this air, a sort of 'if you say no to me you'll be sorry' thing, but that's not how I am."

"I never thought you were," Percy says, sincere. "I just always took it as, like, you're used to getting your way. But not as a bad thing, like you've gotten stuff handed to you, just, like…" He fumbles for some decent words. "You work for what you get, obviously. I just, I mean, it looks like confidence to me. Like you don't put up with people's shit. It's nice."

"I can honestly say that I've never met a person who found that quality of mine admirable, but thank you," Annabeth says, and her eyes are all mirth; a lighter shade compared to the steely grey they typically are. Percy has trouble looking away from them. "I like your politeness."

"Mom raised me right." He shrugs off her praise; it really should go to his mom, in the end.

"Modest, too," she mentions. Percy can feel that ever-present blush warming his neck. Damn his blood vessels.

"Thanks," he says, after a pause. He avoids her eyes until he feels like he can look into them without falling any further in love. "Means a lot."

Overhead, the bell rings, sending the hallways into mayhem. Percy gets shoved closer to Annabeth by someone who _clearly_ wasn't watching where they were going, but he doesn't waste any anger on it besides a small scowl tossed over his shoulder. "I'll see you later?" he says, turning back to Annabeth.

She's a little closer than he remembers. Percy breathes in, breathes out. He's fine. "Yeah, of course. Lunch," she replies.

"Right. Lunch," Percy says. Annabeth's just a few inches shorter than him. "Uh, the bell… Rang. I have class."

"I'm aware," Annabeth says, clearly entertained. Definitely teasing him. There's surely a blush staining his cheeks, but he tries not to think about that, out of fear that he'll get _more _embarrassed and break out in hives.

Before Percy can merge into the crowd of students, Annabeth reaches up to squeeze his upper arm. The small gesture makes his heart beat at a pace just barely faster than what's normal. He, with a hand that definitely shouldn't be shaking as much as it is, reaches up to hold onto her upper arm, too. It's like a hug, just a little easier on Percy's heart and mind. He doesn't even want to think about being that close to Annabeth, knees knocking and chests brushing. Yeah, that's definitely something he doesn't want to get into.

"Go to class," Annabeth tells him, a little smirk on her face. Percy stares before he nods, or maybe nods while he stares—it's all a blur. He's pretty sure his last lucid thought was about two months ago, before Annabeth had fallen right back into his life like she'd never left.

"Bye," he says, but he's not sure if she can even hear it over the chaos in the hallway. Because he's a lot more selfish with Annabeth than he is with anything else, he doesn't drop his hand from her arm until he's stepped far enough back that he can't reach her anymore.

He walks down the quickly clearing hallway, the tardy bell soon to ring, and tries to look less winded before he slips into his first period, a good 10 seconds after the bell. He apparently looks distraught enough that even Mrs. Keaves doesn't chastise him.

"You alright?" Axe questions, to his left. He looks concerned. Percy feels a manic laugh bubbling up from his chest, and he just barely manages to hold it in.

"Fine," he replies, strained. His lungs refuse to expand as much as they should, so Percy just sits there, trying to force himself to _breathe_. "Just—had to run a little, since I was almost late. That's all."

Axe skeptically eyes him, but Percy doesn't really care. He's still feeling intoxicated from being close to Annabeth. His heartbeat feels ridiculously loud. It's a wonder Axe can't hear it himself.

"Whatever you say, man," Axe says, warily. "We're going to Rosie's after school. You coming?"

Percy bites back the question on the tip of his tongue—_is Annabeth coming?_—and gives a short, terse nod. "Yeah, 'course. As always. Normal."

"Are you sure you're alright? You and Nico didn't, like, light up or anything did you?"

"What? You know I hate weed," Percy says, making a face. "And even if I didn't, I wouldn't, like, at school. That's not smart."

"Just checking," Axe says, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "You seem off. And if running for a minute makes you breathless, you're screwed for swim season."

Percy makes a grumpy noise, but doesn't respond past that. He stares at his hands; finds it weird that just a few minutes ago they were touching Annabeth's skin. For being as close as they are, he and Annabeth aren't very physical. Percy's no stranger to being tactile, and he tends to enjoy it once he's close enough to someone, but he finds it hard to initiate anything with Annabeth. He refuses to make her uncomfortable. Even if she's probably a great hugger.

"Dude!" Axe says, shoving his shoulder none-too-gently. Percy grips the edge of his desk to keep from slipping out of his seat, sending Axe a wide-eyed look.

"You could have _killed_ me," Percy gasps dramatically, though it probably wouldn't have done any more than bruised his ego. And maybe his ass.

"We're supposed to get into pairs, which you would know if you weren't all zoned out," Axe tells him pointedly. "What's up? For real. Is it family stuff?" His best friend lowers his voice, brow dipping in concern.

"It's not," Percy reassures him immediately. Axe can be a real mother hen when he learns about anyone close to him going through a hard time, and he doesn't want to make his friend worry. "Just, you know. Stuff."

"_Oh_," Axe says, like he's suddenly learned every secret the world has. "It's an _Annabeth_ thing."

And, Percy supposes, it was pretty futile to try and keep it to himself at all. Axe knows him better than most, and, well, he's not _blind_; Percy's sure it's more or less written all over his face. He's never been gifted at masking his emotions. "Is not," Percy says, just to be obstinate.

"Did you guys…?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"No," Percy repeats, shrugging to himself. As much as he'd like some kind of physical affection to cement his and Annabeth's friendship, he won't die without a hug here and there. He'll take what Annabeth gives him.

"That's unfortunate," Axe says, twenty different kinds of smug. "Kelsi and I kissed."

Percy pulls a pencil out of his pocket, then proceeds to chuck it at Axe. "Why didn't you _tell_ me, you big—?"

"Mr. Jackson, please do not throw things," Mrs. Keaves reprimands tiredly, looking like she'd rather be anywhere but at school. Percy shares the sentiment. He apologizes.

"Loser," Axe says under his breath.

"No name calling either, Mr. Harmon," Mrs. Keaves adds, not even looking up from the stack of ungraded tests before her.

"We'll talk later," Percy says firmly, finally taking a look at the worksheet that's been on his desk since the bell rang ten minutes ago. "Guess we can learn about appositives for the time being."

"I'd much rather talk about why you're _still_ blushing," Axe muses, staring at Percy expectantly.

"I am not," Percy says confidently, since his face doesn't _feel_ hot. "Seriously. I can't fail this class. I won't graduate."

"Oh, stop whining." Axe gives Percy a little smile to show he doesn't mean to be as abrasive as he sounds. "Now. What the fuck is an appositive?"

;;

When it comes time for lunch, Axe doesn't even pretend like he'll sit by Percy's side like he has for the past nine or so years. He sits beside Kay. _Typical_. Percy would probably be annoyed if both of their faces weren't lighting up like kids seeing Disney World for the first time.

"Are they dating yet?" a voice asks, far closer to his ear than Percy expects. He jumps.

Annabeth, on reflex, flinches back. Percy blinks at her owlishly, and she takes a moment to have a laugh at his expense. Percy probably just stares dreamily, if he's being honest with himself. "Hi," he greets, after a few seconds of basking in Annabeth's quiet laughter and even more muted smile. _God_.

"Hello," she replies cheerily. "Are they?" She tips her head towards their pair of friends, and Percy turns to look at them at the same moment they turn to look at himself and Annabeth.

"What?" he and Axe say in unison, which sends Annabeth and Kay laughing together.

Kay pushes her tray over so that Axe has access to her food. Percy would probably scoff if he weren't so happy for his friend. "I don't know the details," Percy tells Annabeth in an undertone, shrugging. "Probably, though. They look cozy."

Annabeth hums in acknowledgement, but she changes the subject. "Are you ready for the economics quiz tomorrow?"

"Of course," Percy says drily, since it's a pretty widely-accepted fact in their group that he's never really prepared for anything. "Might need a bit of help."

"I'd be honored," Annabeth says, though he didn't really ask. He guesses it's kind of a widely-accepted fact that he and Annabeth are study partners, too. "I have a proposal."

"Seems a little soon for that," Percy mutters under his breath, smiling proudly when Annabeth barks out a laugh—a _real_ one, where her eyes crinkle at the corners. He's staring. The only thing that helps him look away is the fear of having that seemingly ever-present blush creep up his cheeks.

He's known Annabeth for a while, is the thing, and he's always recognized the fact that she's pretty, but sometimes she catches him off guard with how stunning she can be. Little dents appear in her cheeks—_dimples_, Percy thinks with a sense of dread. He's truly a goner.

"That was funny," she tells him, like he wasn't just hanging onto every second of her laughter. He smiles and nods his head in some form of a bow. "Seriously, though, sometime I think you should have to speak in full sentences for a whole day. It'll be a start."

"A start?" Percy asks, raising an eyebrow. "To what?"

"Improving your stunning lack of English skills," Annabeth says plaintively.

He tries to paste some offended expression off his face. "I'm dyslexic," he announces. "Where is my sympathy?"

"That's hardly an excuse, since I am, too, and I can manage full sentences."

"You also have a 4.0 GPA," Percy mentions. He can't even break a 2.5, but he doesn't mention that. Annabeth would probably make it her personal mission to homework him to death until his grades are higher than they've ever been.

"It'd just be for a day," Annabeth says, waving him off. "You'd manage."

"I didn't even agree!"

Annabeth gives him a blank look, as if to say _would you really say no?_ Percy, very quickly, realizes that he can't argue with Annabeth's unspoken words. "Fine. One day," he acquiesces. "When are you coming over?"

"I have to run two errands first, but it'll be pretty soon after school. Why?"

Percy shrugs. He doesn't really have an answer. "No reason. Errands?"

"Wait, are you two skipping out on us?" Leo asks loudly, attracting attention from everyone at their table and a few people from the table over. Percy tries to express his annoyance with a subtle glare in the direction of their token boisterous kid of the group. "We're all going to Rosie's after school."

"Hey, you promised you would go," Axe whines, scowling. "You missed it last time."

"It wouldn't be the same without you two," Hazel adds kindly, golden eyes glancing between them. Percy thinks that it's Hazel's words that tip the scale for both him and Annabeth.

"I think we can hang out for a while," Annabeth allows, after a second. "I just have to hit the post office before five. And I'll need a few hours to inject some information into Percy, here."

"I'm sure that's _exactly_ what you'll be doing," Axe mumbles, at the same time Kay tells them, "I'm sure you guys will have more than enough time."

Kay shoves Axe's shoulder, giving him a scandalized, incredulous look, and Percy was planning on stepping on his best friend's toes, but he thinks Kay's wrath'll probably do the trick for him. Axe gives him a reluctantly apologetic foot-nudge, and Kay makes a gesture as if she's saying sorry on his behalf. Percy wants to make a comment about how incredibly _married_ they are, but he decides to operate by the means of the golden rule. And he'd prefer that Axe _didn't_ make such a comment again.

"Anyways, errands," Annabeth starts slowly, and she's casting a confused glance at Axe. The sudden silence that had taken up residence between the four of them dissolves, Kay and Axe doing some weird whisper-and-touch-my-shoulder routine. "I have to drop off some letters at the post office for my dad, and I'd like to buy a book for English class if I have time to."

"Oh, alright," Percy responds, shifting a little in his seat. "Do you want me to go with you? Or, just—we can meet at my house, if that's better. Or not."

"You can come with me, if you want," Annabeth tells him, bumping her shoulder against his in a way that looks, feels, and probably is accidental. A man can dream. "I wouldn't mind the company."

"Then I'll go," Percy says immediately, lifting one shoulder. "I'd just be sitting around waiting for you anyways."

He regrets the words about three seconds after they leave his mouth. He's surely the most idiotic person in this country, if not in the entire world. Percy's always had a problem with holding back certain information; he was raised to be honest, and sometimes he forgets where he's supposed to draw a line. _This_ is why his crushes are always painfully obvious. He more or less tells them that he's got it bad.

"That's Percy for you," Axe butts in, coming to his rescue in the midst of a thick silence. "He gets really excited when he's having a friend over. Like a puppy."

"Except I don't jump on people," Percy says, following Axe's lead. "And I don't think I've ever licked someone as a greeting."

"That'd be pretty unsanitary," Annabeth mentions idly.

"I've done it," Leo announces, frowning in confusion. "I don't think they spoke to me again."

"Shocker," Reyna and Kay deadpan in unison. Percy loves his friends.

Having nearly forgotten that it's their lunch period, Percy glances down at his tray. His fruit cup has mysteriously disappeared, and Axe looks guilty.

"It was actually me," Kay says, before Percy can kick his best friend's shin as punishment for stealing. She hooks her chin over Axe's shoulder, reaching up an arm to pat his chest. "I stole it for him."

"I was perfectly capable of stealing it myself," Axe interjects, reaching up a hand to rest over Kay's, but he looks pleased that she would perform thievery for him.

"You were staring at it, politely waiting for Percy to finish his conversation with Annabeth. And we all know their conversations last forever," Kay says, kissing Axe's shoulder before untangling herself from him. "Your manners are very cute, don't look so disgruntled."

Axe brightens up at that, blue eyes lighting up when he turns to look at her. With _literal stars_ in his eyes. Percy is well on his way to being physically sick. He spares Annabeth a glance as he takes a sip of his apple juice, and nearly snorts the drink out of his nose when he sees her face—caught between disgust and endearment. Annabeth turns her affectionate gaze on him, while he stares at the apple juice that's just spilled on his shirt.

"You're an idiot," Annabeth informs him, before she promptly leaves the table.

Percy watches her leave, trying to see where she's going, but Axe kicks his foot beneath the table. "Smooth," he tells Percy, nodding to his shirt.

"I'm aware of how incredibly not smooth I am, you really don't have to rub it in," Percy grumbles, making Axe and Kay smile. Annabeth returns to the table with a pile of napkins and a cup of water, passing it off to Percy wordlessly.

There's not really much hope for the giant water stain on his shirt after, but he figures it'll dry. He focuses on cleaning his arm next, listening to Jason and Axe chatting idly about Halloween plans. He's guessing that most of his friends aren't going to dress up, but Percy wouldn't mind having a little get together. "We should have a scary movie marathon," Nico suggests, entering into the conversation.

Percy makes an interested noise, nodding his head while he tries to get the apple juice out of his shirt. He feels like he's time traveled back to his elementary school days, where he wasn't coordinated enough to walk and drink out of a juice box at the same time. "Pulled the thought right out of my head, Nico."

"I don't like scary movies, really," Annabeth comments, drawing circles in the condensation on the side of the cup of water. "I mean, I like the one's with plot, but I hate the ones that are just blood and boring exorcisms."

"Boring exorcisms," Nico says flatly. "That's, like, an oxymoron. Exorcisms are _awesome_."

"The exorcism scenes always look ridiculous, and you know it," Reyna says, taking Annabeth's side. "Blood is fine, but it's always better with some murder mystery type thing."

Annabeth hums her agreement, listing off a few crime movies she likes, detailing the plots of each one, boring everyone but Percy and Reyna to tears, more likely than not. Midway through Annabeth's raving about some movie called "Zodiac," Percy shifts his arm and nearly sends the water cup toppling over.

He and Annabeth reach out to steady it at the same time, her reacting absentmindedly while Percy's hand flies out to keep it from damaging his shirt any further. She pauses mid-sentence when her hand falls to rest over his, glancing down in confusion, then up to meet his eyes.

Percy undoubtedly should move his hand, especially now that the whole table's stopped to look down at what's caused Annabeth's sudden speechlessness. "Sorry," Percy says nonsensically, disoriented from the intensity of her gaze. What is he apologizing for? He saved them both from wet shoes and clothes, probably. He draws his hand back, and Annabeth does the same.

A heavy blanket of tension settles across the table. Percy only feels slightly guilty that he's the one who caused it, but he can't think much past the sound of his heartbeat in his ears. He wills the blush away.

Thankfully, before it can get any more painfully uncomfortable, the bell rings to signal the end of lunch. Percy breathes an audible sigh of relief.

"I'll see you later," he mutters, addressing the table at large, but not really looking at any of them. He tosses his lunch tray, a half-eaten chicken sandwich and an untouched serving of macaroni and cheese spilling into the trash can. He mentally groans the entire walk to his next class, and swears to himself that he'll stop acting a fool in front of Annabeth. He owes his ego that much.

;;

After the seventh period bell rings, Percy really wants nothing more than to go home, beg his mom for a hot chocolate, and sit on the couch while she picks out a movie for them. That's usually his first reaction after a bad day, or a particularly _embarrassing_ day, in this case.

Sadly, he's made a few promises that tie him up for a few hours. Granted, he's sure Annabeth would let him get out of studying, especially with how adamant she is about him telling her no when he's not up to hanging out; but more than hiding from the world and relaying all of his mortification to his mom, he doesn't want to sacrifice any time spent with Annabeth. Plus, he really does need help with economics. And she could probably teach him all about appositives, on top of that.

Percy wants Annabeth to teach him a few other things, too, like how she likes to be kissed or when she likes her hand to be held. But he has a feeling that's reserved for people she's actually _dating_, or, at the very least, interested in. And Percy's gotten a vibe or two from her, particularly endeared looks or smiles that take just that much longer to fade, but he's always hated assumptions. There's too much room for error.

Annabeth catches up to him right as he's stepping off the last of the stairs that lead up to the entrance of their school. "Hey, do you think you could do me a favor? It's completely fine if not, since I know one of the other's will, but you're the first person I've run into."

"Yeah, shoot," Percy says, continuing his walk towards his car. Annabeth falls into step beside him.

"My dad's car won't start, for whatever reason. Well, actually, it's from the 1980s or something so I can't say I'm all that surprised. Anyways, he has a flight in about two hours, and he needs to borrow my car to get to the airport, so—"

"You need a ride," Percy finishes, already nodding his assent. "Yeah, sure, that's fine. Just for today, or school tomorrow, too?"

Annabeth bites her lip, looking a little hesitant. "I'm actually not sure. The airport's a long drive and he's told me that he's going west to visit family, but I'm not sure how many days he'll be gone. I'm staying with my mom for the time being."

"Well, just let me know what you need," Percy says, genuine as can be.

"You're the best," Annabeth tells him, and it sounds heartfelt. "Honestly, like… I need to send Sally flowers for raising such a great son."

He shrugs, bashful and pleased all the same. He feels himself blushing, but he's okay with it this time. "Thank you."

She gives him a smile as they stop next to his vehicle—a used, blue Dodge Neon that had taken _months_ of hint-dropping and eventual begging until his mom surprised him with it. Percy leans a hand on it lovingly, just as Annabeth reaches out for his arm again. "Thank you, really. You're a lifesaver."

"Can't say I've ever been called a flotation device, but thanks anyways," Percy says, trying his hand at wit.

Apparently, it works, because Annabeth's smile widens before she bursts out laughing, and doesn't stop for a few minutes. Percy laughs with her, since Annabeth's happiness is more contagious than she thinks. "You're ridiculous," she tells him, after she's caught her breath. She looks dangerously close to breaking out into giggles again, and Percy wishes he were funny enough to make her do so. "Just follow me to my house. Please."

He salutes her. "I'm on it."

She turns and walks back towards the school, and Percy feels bad that he made her walk to the furthest edge of the parking lot, which is where he usually ends up due to his near-tardiness every day. Of course Annabeth would be one of the first ones at school. And even then, she probably has a reserved space for being one of the top students in the senior class.

It only takes a few minutes for Annabeth to drive past him, so Percy backs out and follows her. Thankfully, Annabeth's one of those people that think to put on their blinker a little earlier, conscious of someone following her, so he knows exactly where he's going.

When they finally arrive at Annabeth's house, not quite on the outskirts of town, but not quite in town either, he's a little shocked. The house is smaller than he would expect it to be, and not necessarily run down, but even the untrained eye can see that it could use a repair or two. He's not unfamiliar with less than favorable living spaces, since he and his mom had their fair share of shitty apartments before they moved from the more dangerous sections of the city to the suburbs, but he thinks Annabeth deserves better, the same way his mom did.

He gets out of his car, since he doesn't want her father to have a bad impression of him, and he doesn't want Annabeth to think that he's put off by a house like hers, because he certainly isn't. It seems he's made the right decision as Annabeth gives him a grateful smile before she leads the way up the stairs.

He can hear the air conditioner whirring, and can feel the way the wooden steps teeter precariously as they step up them, but he doesn't voice his observations. Annabeth pulls open the screen door and holds it for him, calling out for her dad.

"Kitchen!" a man calls back, with a softer voice that Percy expected. For some reason, he'd always thought of Annabeth's dad as some intimidating man, with a gruff voice and an even rougher attitude. The man Percy follows Annabeth to see is scrawny; limp blonde hair with long, thin limbs and glasses that he pushes up twice in the span of a minute.

"Hi, Dad," Annabeth greets. The man smiles tightly and tips his glass of water at her as a hello before he looks back to Percy. "That's Percy."

"Chemistry Percy?" Annabeth's father asks, looking a little stricken. "I thought you two didn't talk anymore."

Percy sees Annabeth blush for the first time, right there in her very own kitchen with his shoes squeaking against the linoleum. She gives her dad an extremely exasperated look, and Percy almost feels bad. The man looks entirely clueless. "We ran into each other at the fair a few months ago," Percy says, deciding to take this question, while Annabeth turns her back on both of them to apparently rearrange some mail on the counter. "Kept in touch since then."

"Well that's nice to hear," Annabeth's father says, smiling. Like Annabeth, his smile transforms his face from something guarded and harsh to open and bright. "It's always nice to see Annabeth making friends."

Annabeth turns to them, looking no less flustered than she was a few seconds ago. Percy can feel an amused smile twitching at his lips, and like Annabeth can read his thoughts, she narrows her eyes at him as if to say _let's not forget about all of those times you've blushed around me_. "We've been friends, Dad," she voices, after a second, still giving Percy a _look_.

"I'm Frederick," the man says finally, reaching over to shake Percy's hand. Percy performs the action without hesitation.

"I'm Percy Jackson," he says, though the man already knows his name.

This seems to gain Frederick's interest. "Ah, any relation to Sally Jackson?"

Percy beams proudly. "Yes sir."

"He's the worst momma's boy ever," Annabeth pipes up, but she's giving him an indulgent smile.

"I know Sally," Frederick says, smoothing down his button-up shirt that shows signs of wear. "She's a very nice woman. You have a great mother."

"I know, sir," Percy says, nodding. "She's the best."

"Worst momma's boy ever," Annabeth repeats, crossing the kitchen to nudge Percy's shoulder. He drops his chin to his chest while he tries to get his smile down to a normal level. "Anyways, Dad, my car's out front. Keys here," she tells him, pointing to the set on the counter. "I have half a tank of gas, which should be enough to get you to the airport and back."

Her dad nods gratefully. "Thank you, Annabeth. I should be back in three or four days, if it all goes according to plan." He pauses, giving Percy a considering look. "Perhaps your friend can give you all necessary rides until then?"

"Already worked out, sir," Percy says, giving him a grin that hopefully says 'I'll keep your daughter out of danger.'

Apparently, her father approves, because he claps Percy on the shoulder Annabeth isn't pressed up against. And she is. Still pressed up against his shoulder. Percy tries not to think on that. "Good man," Frederick says. "I'll be heading to the airport now. You kids stay out of trouble."

He opens a cabinet, pulling out a bag of cough drops. When he tries to close the cabinet, one of the hinges breaks, leaving the door hanging at an odd angle. Frederick blinks at it.

"Right, well," the man says, a puzzled look slipping onto his face. "That certainly came out of nowhere."

"We're leaving now," Annabeth says, under her breath, pushing at Percy's shoulder with her knuckles. "I'll be right behind you."

Percy might not understand geometric proofs or anything, but he knows a dismissal when he hears one. With one last handshake and a promise to look out for Annabeth (one that elicits an embarrassed groan from the lady herself), he heads out the front door.

The steps shake back and forth as he goes down them, and Percy tries not to feel guilty. He and his mom have a pretty great living situation right now, with a two bedroom house, complete with a spacious living room and decent sized kitchen—Percy even has his own bathroom, this time, and his mom has her small den that she calls her office.

Though it isn't his place at all, and surely not his business, Percy wishes that Annabeth had a better place to come home to. Granted, her mom's house is probably nicer if Annabeth's mentions of her wealth is anything to go by, but he has a feeling this place is more like home to Annabeth. Her posture was more relaxed than he'd ever seen it, and she seemed in her element as she moved around the space.

She ambles out of the front door a few moments later, blessedly saving Percy from his wandering thoughts. He hates feeling bad for others about as much as others hate him feeling bad for them. "Hey, ready to go?" she asks, far too brightly. Her tone doesn't match her eyes.

"I am. Everything okay?"

"Great. Perfect, actually, let's leave now." She tugs the passenger side door open and gets in, and Percy just stares at the empty air for a second. He hates pushing people, but his curiosity is usually pretty hard to shove under the rug.

He waits until they've driven down the road before he asks again. "You know you can talk to me about things, right?" Percy asks, feeling somewhat nervous for unknown reasons. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but, just—I mean. I care. I'd listen, if you had anything to say."

He pauses at a stop sign, and while he usually goes for a rolling stop, he actually lets his car shift backwards while he turns to Annabeth, trying to communicate just how earnest he is.

She gives him a look that's a lot softer than he usually gets from her, and he tries not to melt beneath her warm gaze. He shifts his hand from its typical position on his car wheel, running it around the circumference idly. "I know you would," Annabeth replies, gently. "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome," he says, holding her gaze for a moment more before he keeps driving. "Like, nothing you could tell me would ever run me off. Unless you're, like, a serial killer. That might be a little weird."

Annabeth laughs, but it sounds more polite than it does genuine. Percy wants to frown. "I'm not a serial killer, I swear. And even if I were, I don't think I'd kill you."

"Why, because I'm your friend?" Percy asks, glancing at her. If Annabeth doesn't want to talk, that's fine, but he can tell something's bothering her and he'll be damned if he doesn't at least take her mind off it.

"No, because it'd be difficult to kill the best person on earth without leaving with a guilty conscience," Annabeth replies plaintively. Percy smiles at the side of her face until he's worried he's driving half in the other lane.

They arrive at Rosie's later than everyone else, as expected, but the most annoying part is how everyone goes quiet as soon as they enter the small sweet shop.

Axe mutters something under his breath that warrants a twitchy smile from Kay and a brief guffaw from Leo, but other than that, they stay weirdly silent. Percy is concerned. "Hey, guys," he says, slowly.

"Hello, PercyAndAnnabeth," Leo says, quickly, resting his face in one palm like he's about to hear a good story. "Who arrived together. Sketchy, if you ask me."

Percy looks at Annabeth, not sure if he's allowed to disclose the reason, but she merely shrugs. "Annabeth's dad needed her car. We're hanging out later anyways, so I figured I'd just give her a ride."

"Very chivalrous of you, Percy," Hazel praises, sweetly. He sends her a smile. He's always liked Hazel, even if she's a sophomore compared to his senior. Despite being two years younger, she's never struggled with maturity around their group like Leo has. And he _is_ a senior. Granted, as much as the group at large groans at Leo's childish antics, they're kind of attached to him, too.

"I'm going to get a milkshake," Percy announces, since nobody's changed the subject. "Annabeth?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I left my wallet in the car anyways." She waves him off.

"Shouldn't have said that," Axe sing-songs, tsking as if to say _what a shame_. "Our Percy here is about to offer to pay for you." Axe looks up at his best friend knowingly, and Percy gives him a playfully annoyed look.

When Annabeth glances up at him, Percy smiles sheepishly. "I was," he tells Annabeth, lifting one shoulder. "Come on."

"It's fine, I really don't need anything," Annabeth says, trying to refuse. Everyone resumes talking around them, and Percy doesn't miss the way Axe leans into Kay like it's second nature, or the way Reyna and Hazel both are trying their hardest not to laugh at the string of corny jokes that Leo's unleashing on them. Even Nico, who usually proclaims that he'd rather die than hear knock-knock jokes, seems amused.

"I'm going to end up buying you a strawberry milkshake whether you like it or not; resistance is futile."

Annabeth's gaze snaps away from where Piper and Jason are both leaning over some assignment they were paired together for, settling on him. "How did you know I like strawberry milkshakes?"

Percy wishes he were smart enough to say something like _lucky guess_ or _Hazel mentioned it_, but instead what he says is, "You told me sophomore year."

"That was forever ago," Annabeth points out, pressing her lips together. "I can't believe you remember that…"

There's definitely that too-hot, pulse-quickening feeling spreading through Percy's chest. _Here comes the hives_, he thinks cynically. "It seemed like an important fact. And look how useful it is now." He gestures vaguely. Annabeth just cocks her head to the side, looking at him in a way that makes Percy's stomach turn over.

Because he was apparently raised in a jungle and grew up without any sense of self-restraint, he reaches out and grabs her hand before pulling her up with him. "Stop fighting with me and come get a milkshake."

Annabeth follows him to the counter, and they both order—chocolate for Percy, strawberry for Annabeth. She looks incredibly pleased about the whole thing, and keeps sending Percy these barely-there smiles that makes him want to shove his head in the nearest freezer to cool himself down a bit.

When they approach the table this time, they don't fall silent. Axe seamlessly drags Percy into an intense debate about who's the best live band with Jason and Nico, and Piper asks Annabeth for help on a question she nor Jason are unsure of how to answer. Percy's always thought that he has two families; the one that consists of his mom, and the one that consists of Axe and Nico and the rest of his friends he's gotten remarkably close with in the past few months. He's always been one for sentiment, and he takes a moment to just look around the table with a smile, glad that he's met the people he has.

"Gross," Axe says after a moment. "Percy's smiling at all of us."

Percy laughs and rolls his eyes. "Just happy I have all of you as my friends," he says, sweet as can be, and everyone groans like he's the biggest nuisance out there. Axe even kicks his foot while he scrunches up his nose, but the smiles that cross everyone's faces gives them away.

Once he and Annabeth have both polished off their respective milkshakes, she tugs at his shirt sleeve, presses her knuckles against his arm, and nods towards the door. "Would it be okay if we left? I just want to make sure I get to the post office before it closes."

Percy glances at his phone, reading a 4:15 PM. "Yeah, we should go."

"I can't believe you're ditching me," Axe bemoans, like Percy ducking out a half hour earlier than usual is the worst thing that's ever happened to him.

"I'm sure you'll keep yourself entertained," Percy says mildly, not feeling shy in the slightest when he gives Kay a pointed look. He's not sure which of them blushes first, but Kay does lean against Axe's shoulder, like she's trying to hide her face.

He and Annabeth leave with a round of goodbyes, and Annabeth is grinning smugly. "They're dating."

"They're _so_ dating."

;;

The drive to the post office is mostly quiet, save for the hum of the radio. Percy's thought process is that they'll spend about ten minutes here before either going to the bookstore twenty minutes away or heading to his house for a cram session.

He doesn't expect Annabeth to pull out a stack of letters about as tall as a bottle of soda. "What in the hell is that," Percy says flatly. He doesn't think he's ever seen so many letters in his life.

"My dad is trying to get some inquiries off of his credit," she replies with a shrug. "They're already addressed, we just have to buy stamps and then toss them in the mail box."

"That's a lot of stamps." Percy eyes the letters suspiciously. "Won't they be annoyed that you're sending them so many letters at once?"

"Percy, they're going to different people."

"Oh, well… Right. That makes sense."

Annabeth gives him a look like she's a few moments away from laughing at him. He holds the door open for her as they enter, glancing around while Annabeth buys stamps. She doesn't waste any time in recruiting Percy to help her stick them on the letters.

"I'm pretty good at this," Percy says, four letters in. "I think I could do this for a living."

Annabeth snorts lightly, elbowing his side. "Shut up."

"I'm serious," he says, trying to sound wounded. "I mean, of course I already have my one job as a flotation device, but that's really only part time. I think I could manage."

Annabeth makes a choked-off sound, burying her face in her hands. A moment later, she groans, but Percy's pretty sure she's smiling. "Shut _up_, Percy."

He shrugs; speaks before he really thinks it through. "Nah, I'm good. I like making you laugh."

Annabeth goes quiet for a second, and usually this is the part where Percy's mind starts racing, regretting what he's said. Instead, he feels weirdly unapologetic about that particular statement. He _does_ like making Annabeth laugh after all, and it's important that she knows that.

She clears her throat while she smooths out a stamp. Percy glances at her as he pulls another one off the strip, placing it at the corner of the envelope. "I don't know if I ever explained to you how it works between me and my parents."

Percy stays quiet, figuring that Annabeth'll take her time to say what she needs to say, and his pointless interjections are far from needed. She does take a few minutes to continue, and by the time she starts talking, they're in front of the mail slot, dropping letters in one by one.

"Usually, I live with my mom one week, and my dad the next, then my mom again," Annabeth explains. Percy makes a quiet, sympathetic noise, and Annabeth sighs. "Yeah, I know. It's really annoying; the whole alternating week-to-week, but it was what the courts saw fit, I'm guessing. I don't know, I wasn't at the trial."

"That sucks, though. Seems unstable," he comments, pressing his elbow up against hers just to let her know that he's still listening.

"It is," she admits with a sigh. "But it's not as bad as it could be. It's not really the living situation that's such a problem, it's just…"

She pauses, then rubs at her forehead like there's a headache forming. Percy instantly feels guilty. "You don't have to tell me anything," he says softly and vaguely uncomfortable. As good as he is at recognizing emotions, he's not always the best at reacting to them; he's unsure of whether or not he should offer up a comforting touch, or some encouraging words, or if he shouldn't do anything.

"I know I don't, but I trust you," she tells him simply, like those words aren't nearly knocking Percy off his feet. "And you actually know the most about the situation, out of all of my friends. I met Hazel and Reyna and Piper and Kay last year, at the start of eleventh grade, and I was trying not to think so much about the whole thing. I really only told them the basics. You know more because of sophomore year."

And, well, Annabeth knows how to make a guy feel special, Percy guesses. Something swells up in his chest, like he's proud that he's the one she decided to entrust so much sensitive information with. Percy's always been a huge believer in the philosophy that close friends are often made through secret-sharing, and he wants to hear every single locked-up thought Annabeth is willing to tell him. Percy's not really that secretive of a guy, so he doesn't have much to share, but he's been told by Axe time and time again that he's a great listener. Something about high empathy levels.

"Let's talk in the car," Percy suggests, once another person joins them in the lobby of the post office. Annabeth nods her agreement.

He sees Annabeth rubbing her arms to fight off the chill outside, so he turns the heat up as soon as they've shut their car doors. "Want me to drive, or do you just want to sit?"

"Drive, please," Annabeth answers. He starts backing out, but he's interrupted by Annabeth insisting that he put his seatbelt on. "I have a point to all of this, I swear."

"I believe you." Percy feels some ache in his chest that's surely akin to longing. He wants to hold her hand, just to give her some physical comfort, since he's not always that great with words.

"So, going back and forth from Mom and Dad's can be just… Weird, sometimes. I mean, you saw Dad's place."

"It seemed homey," Percy puts in, because it did. The couches had a rip here and there, but the house was _lived in_, and it felt warm and inviting much like Percy's own house.

"You don't have to say that," Annabeth tells him with a short, self-deprecating chuckle, not quite meeting his eyes. "You watched a cabinet fall off it's hinges."

Annabeth's confidence is something he really loves about her, and it makes him sad that it's so easily diminished by something as silly as a faulty cabinet door. If Percy could make a living that way, he'd stay by Annabeth's side as her very own personalized confidence boost, defiantly pinching her shoulder every time she said a single negative thing about herself.

He shrugs, making it a point to press his elbow against hers; nudging little _I don't care_s and _it doesn't change the way I see you_s into her skin. "Just because it's falling apart a little, doesn't mean it can't still be home," he says wisely, thinking of the apartments he and his mom inhabited, with thin walls and dripping sinks and creaking floorboards and stairs that never felt all that safe to walk on.

Annabeth gives him a vaguely surprised look, and Percy just lifts his eyebrows. He can be insightful and philosophical, too. "Right. I already told you some of this, the day where I freaked out?" Percy nods when Annabeth looks to him, though he wouldn't use the phrase 'freaked out.' The reaction was appropriate, he thinks. "Well, growing up, I didn't really spend a lot of time with my parents, and the time I did spend with them, they were usually saying rude stuff about the other. So that's why me and my parents are kind of… _Strained_, I guess. Sometimes my mom actually tries to be my mom and it feels so awkward that we both end up ignoring each other for a day or two."

Percy's chest tightens at that. He can't imagine where he'd be without his own mother's incessant coddling, neverending encouragement, and warm smiles. He's gotten by well enough without a dad, but Percy doesn't even want to think about not being as close as he is with his mom. It makes sense, though, given the ease Annabeth has going about tough situations independently. She's probably spent half of life having to do things on her own.

"And it's fine, really, don't get that look on your face," Annabeth continues, noticing Percy's stricken expression. "It's just… Different. And I think it'll help you understand me more." She lets out a sigh, fidgets with a few curls while Percy takes the turn into his neighborhood. "The going back and forth... It's just not _stable_, and believe me when I say it's hard to maintain some form of sanity when you're constantly hearing two different sides to this big fight."

Percy, abruptly, feels angry and unforgiving towards anyone who's ever upset Annabeth. She deserves a lot of things, but being pushed and pulled from parent to parent isn't one of them.

"And my point is," Annabeth says finally, releasing a huge breath, "that I tend to hold people at arm's length. I'm sure you noticed. And I'm close with the girls and some of the boys, but not like I am with you, and I guess what I really mean is—"

"Annabeth, breathe," Percy suggests, only interrupting for the sake of ensuring her health and safety.

"I am," she says stubbornly, pulling in two deep breaths. Percy pulls into his driveway, but he doesn't even consider reaching for the door handle. "What I'm trying to say is that your friendship is really important to me. And I'm happy I met you."

Percy leaves the key in the ignition, but he shuts off the engine before he turns to her. "Probably not near as much as I am about meeting you."

"Don't you dare out-sap me," Annabeth says teasingly, but there's something like an unspoken thank you in her eyes. "When do I get my moment to shine?"

_You always are to me_, is Percy's first thought. He blushes, because even if he doesn't say it out loud, it's a ridiculous line. Definitely belonging in one of his mother's treasured rom coms, anyways.

"I..." Percy trails off. There's about a million ways he could go with that sentence, but the most apt follow-up to their conversation seems to be "I would like to hug you."

Annabeth blinks at him, so Percy even adds a "please."

"You don't have to ask," she says slowly, after a moment, expression soft. Then a smirk crosses her face, and he knows she's about to ridicule him. "You _would_ be the type to need physical affection after an emotionally loaded conversation."

Percy hesitates visibly before he reaches out, latching onto her shirt sleeve with one hand. He's having his qualms about wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, but these things take time. "Is that a bad thing?"

Annabeth waits until he looks up at her before she answers. "Not really," she decides. "Just a _you_ thing, I guess."

Percy stares at where he's pinching her shirt sleeve between his fingers and thumb. "What are other 'me' things?"

"Procrastinating on hugging someone who wants to be hugged, evidently," Annabeth says drily, and Percy gives her a look before they both laugh. "Making 'swimming' your password."

He blushes a little at that, pinching the fabric between his fingertips. He's definitely going to hug Annabeth, he just needs to pre-game for a little longer. He needs to get pumped. He needs to make this his absolute best hug ever to make sure Annabeth asks for them again, or at least accepts them.

"Drinking apple juice," Annabeth adds, which really doesn't make any sense at all. Percy gives her a weird look. "So a lot of other people drink apple juice, too, but it's something that's very… _Percy_. I associate it with you. Oh! Sucking at chemistry, that's got to be one."

"I didn't _suck_," Percy says immediately, but the way Annabeth narrows her eyes and tilts her head makes him reconsider. "Like, maybe a little. But I could hold my own."

"Percy, you asked me for carbon's atomic mass probably six times a day. We were told to memorize it the _second week of school_."

"Maybe I just wanted a reason to talk to you," he shoots back, which is half-true. To be fair, he always got atomic masses mixed up.

"That's…" Annabeth trails off, and Percy catches her looking the slightest bit bashful. He wants to touch his fingers to every little barely-there freckle on her face. "That's stupid."

"No, you're supposed to say that's really kind; I'm a great person, everything you've ever wanted in a friend…" Percy gestures, like she should pick up from there.

"What happened to the modest Percy? Bring him back. I'd like to have a word."

Percy rolls his eyes. "Modest Percy speaking. How may I help you?"

"You've gotten _mouthy_, too," Annabeth mock-gasps. "Who in the world corrupted you?"

He gives her a blank look, then stares at an eyelash that's fallen on her cheekbone. "Take a wild guess."

Annabeth, completely ruining Percy's preparing for the Best Hug Ever, reaches forward and hugs his neck, cold fingertips hinting at his skin. "Well, if you didn't make yourself such an easy target..." Annabeth tells him lowly.

Percy's hands fumble a little as he tries to hug Annabeth back, not quite sure how he should go about it. Eventually, they settle on her upper back. "Even if I weren't an easy target, you'd still pick on me. You know you would."

"Just trying to toughen you up," she mumbles against his shoulder, and Percy nudges her with his chin in retaliation. "You're too nice for the real world."

Percy's fully prepared to come up with a proper response to that, just as soon as he manages to dislodge his heart from his throat and proves successful in tucking it right back beneath his ribcage. Sadly, his heart is still very much in his throat when his phone starts vibrating from where it sits in his center console.

Annabeth leans back immediately, but doesn't take her hands off him, which is somehow both relieving and intensely torturous. He reaches for his phone, Annabeth's wrists resting on his shoulders, and answers the call.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Axe is somewhere that's so loud, Percy can just barely hear him through the static.

"Axe?" Percy pulls back and glances at the caller ID. He's definitely not calling from his usual number. "Home. Why? And whose phone is this?"

"It's one from Expo. I'm actually leaning over the counter to talk to you. If I turned, how many people would be checking out my ass, you think?"

"Expo? Like the marker?"

"No, stupid, it's Expo as in Exposure."

"It's a pub," Annabeth says, feeding Percy information. "They have open mic nights and scheduled performances. Their beer sucks, I've heard."

"It does," Axe laments, though Percy and Annabeth both know he isn't drinking age and definitely shouldn't know how beer tastes at all, much less have his opinions on what qualifies as good beer. "Tastes like an Expo marker, actually. What a shame. Anyways, get down here!"

Percy presses his phone closer to his ear, trying to hear his friend's voice, and he ends up pinning Annabeth's wrist against his shoulder in the process. She doesn't seem to notice, so Percy decides to act like that small touch isn't making his heart beat faster. "Why?" Percy asks cautiously.

"Because it's open mic night and I am, believe it or not, a singer," Axe says, or, rather, shouts. "Come on. Bring Annabeth!"

"I don't think she really—"

"I _love_ open mic nights, don't you dare uninvite me," Annabeth says, sounding genuinely offended. She pulls away entirely and Percy blinks at her. "I don't sing. I like listening. And I love the poetry nights, those are the best. Last year there was this girl—_God_, she had this great slam poem and—"

"Percy?" Axe calls down the line. Percy almost jumps, since he'd gotten a fair bit distracted by Annabeth's bright eyes. He wishes she would talk about things she loves more.

"Yeah, yeah, see you soon," he says quickly, hanging up on his friend before he can get a farewell in. "We didn't even study."

Annabeth waves it off. "We'll study later. I want to hear Axe perform."

Percy, sadly, bristles at that. He's almost embarrassed at his own reaction. "Right, well… You'll enjoy it. He's good. Really good. Surprised he hasn't gotten a deal yet, honestly. Well, he did last year, but he didn't take it because he didn't think he was ready."

Annabeth hums in consideration while Percy starts up his car again. "That's sad. I thought Axe wanted to be famous?"

"He does," Percy replies, shrugging a little. "He… He has a lot to consider before he does, though. He wants to get with an independent label. He doesn't want to get tied under some ridiculous contract with a major."

"That makes sense, I guess. He's smart."

"My grade in English is higher than his," Percy says, before he can think about how absolutely _idiotic_ it is to say so.

"What do you want, a medal?" Annabeth says, all teasing and definitely making Percy blush beneath his collar.

"Yes," Percy mutters, just to be stubborn.

Annabeth's elbow shoves against his where it rests on the center console. He doesn't think about that for any longer than he absolutely has to.

;;

The thing is, Percy realizes, Axe is probably one of the best singers in their town, and definitely the best out of those participating in the open mic night. The place is dingy at best, and when Percy walks through the door he gets a wave of cheap (and apparently unpleasant-tasting) beer, greasy food, and sweat. Thankfully, Annabeth sits close enough to him that he mostly just gets to smell lemons.

Axe blows everyone else out of the water. He jogs up to the stage as soon as Percy and Annabeth walk in, and he's cheered up to the stage later when there's a lack of takers. Most people in the pub seem content to listen to Axe's take on their popular requests.

"He's so good," Annabeth says, so only Percy can hear. Kay's sitting with her back turned to Percy, more or less, swaying back and forth to the Jason Mraz song Axe is, as anticipated, smashing. "I didn't know he was this good."

"I'm like a proud mom," Percy shares, after a few seconds.

Annabeth laughs and leans closer to him so he can hear her better. "I think that's Kay."

"That's called a WAG, Annabeth."

They share laughs, apparently so loudly that Kay finds it fit to turn in her seat and ask what's so funny. "Nothing," Percy calls back, over the chatter of the pub. He gestures back to the stage. "Enjoy the show."

Once Axe finishes off his cover of "I'm Yours" and once Percy's stopped cheering loudly enough to embarrass his best friend, Axe tells everyone he wants to sing something of his own. Only about half the people in the building give him a response, but none of them are negative. Of course.

"Everyone loves him," Percy mutters to Annabeth as he leans back in his seat, delighted for Axe.

"I'd guess it's hard to hate a manly, sexy angel," Annabeth says back, meeting Percy's glare until her eyes scrunch up in this absolutely _offensive_ full body laugh. She looks so happy that Percy can't even keep up his image of annoyance.

Axe sings well into the night. Everyone who leaves, as far as Percy can see, does so in a good mood. Axe is a stellar performer, sure, but he's always excelled at entertainment, too. He can drag smiles out of the most reluctant; pull helpless laughs from someone who hasn't grinned properly in weeks, maybe.

Percy watches Annabeth try to stifle yawns in her palm twice in ten minutes, but he waits a few moments before he suggests they leave, mostly because he feels warm and content and doesn't want the night to come to a close. Axe is glowing from the joy performing brings him; blossoming like a flower in spring under the attention of his audience. Kay looks like she'll burst from joy just by looking at him, and Annabeth's tucked herself closer and closer to Percy as the hours passed.

"We should go," Percy says to Annabeth, once Axe hops off stage for good, shaking hands and accepting high-fives and claps on the back. There's a blush high on his cheeks, though it could be from exertion or all the attention he's getting from the pub's patrons.

"We don't have to," Annabeth says, and the look on her face is reminiscent of a toddler who's scared to sleep out of fear that they might miss something significant. Percy probably smiles at her softly for a moment too long, if Axe's sudden ambush on him is any sign.

"Did you see me?" Axe questions, tangling his limbs around Percy in what's probably supposed to be a hug. Percy really just feels like he's being elbowed in a million different places.

"No, I managed to miss that entire performance, believe it or not," Percy replies, without inflection.

Axe swats him over the head, throwing an arm over Kay's shoulder while he points a disapproving finger at Percy, then at Annabeth. "You're more and more like her every day. Stop it. There's only room enough for one sarcastic person in this group."

"I'll tone it down so there's room for you," Annabeth conspiratorially whispers. "He'll never know what hit him."

"Those who study together plot against sexy, manly angels together," Percy says, quietly enough so only Annabeth can hear. She laughs and leans closer into his space. Percy feels drunk, despite his refusal to touch alcohol.

Axe looks lost, but Kay just looks amused. Good. "We've gotta get going. Proud of you," Percy tacks on, giving Axe a genuine smile. "You did great."

"Apparently so," Axe agrees, depositing three napkins with phone numbers scrawled across them on the table. Kay doesn't have a reaction past simply raising an eyebrow, but Axe nudges her shoulder anyways. "Don't worry, I told them I have a girlfriend."

"Do you?" Percy and Kay ask in unison.

Percy shares a wide-eyed look with Annabeth, then looks at Axe, huffing out a shocked laugh. "Right, as I was saying, Annabeth and I have very important things to do."

"Like, leaving, for example," Annabeth contributes, shoving Percy's shoulder until he nearly falls out of the booth.

Percy barely manages to salute Axe and Kay as a goodbye before Annabeth is corralling him towards the door, clearly hoping for a hasty exit. As soon as they're out the door, she looks at him for five quiet seconds, then laughs at him for probably twenty. Percy takes it, pushing his hands into his front pockets while he waits for her to finish, biting back a smile of his own.

"What a swell job you did back there," she says wryly. "I didn't know Axe had that kind of death glare in him."

"He doesn't," Percy admits. "Usually he saves it for my particularly dumb moments."

"Like that one?"

"Like that one."

They fall quiet as they walk back to the car, and Percy has the kind of thoughts in his mind and feelings in his chest that make him want to stay out all night, just watching night crowd around everything until it's encased in darkness. He wants to squint at the sky like he'll be able to see more than just a few stars, and he recline in dewy grass even if he'll itch at his skin for hours later.

Annabeth yawns again, and Percy draws his attention from the sky to stare at her profile. She's kind of, like, stupidly pretty if you ask Percy. He's not sure what he's gotten himself into with this whole crush.

"I'm a little sleepy," she admits, chuckling to herself like she's embarrassed. "I go to sleep pretty early."

"I've heard that's good for you," Percy comments, but he wouldn't know. The only time he sleeps for more than 5 or 6 hours is when he's sick.

"So they say." He moves to open Annabeth's door for her, but she half-heartedly bats his hand off. "I got it. Idiot."

"How am I ever going to know when I'm _actually_ being stupid if you just call me idiot no matter what I do?" Percy asks, while he rounds the car to get to the driver's seat.

"You'll know," Annabeth tells him. Her voice is slower, like she's thinking about every word before she actually says it. Percy pens it down as what must be her tired voice, and he kind of hopes he gets to hear it again because… Well, Annabeth's _cute_, much to his dismay, and she's rubbing her eyes and yawning again. Percy feels like he's chauffeuring a sleepy kitten around. "I'll let you know that you're actually stupid."

"Thanks for that," Percy says, and it actually sounds genuine. Probably because he means it. And as much as he's grown up spiting every person that dared call him stupid, it's okay when Annabeth says so. Probably because she's never directed the word at him with malice or disappointment—not like so many of his teachers have; not like his step dad did.

"You probably won't actually be stupid, though," she adds, once Percy's maneuvered his way out of the cramped parking lot and turned onto the main road. "So don't worry about it."

He can't think of anything witty or acceptable as a reply, so he doesn't answer at all. The rest of the ride is quiet, save for Annabeth's muttered directions to her mom's house.

He gets her home just after 10 PM, and she refuses to let him walk her to the door. "It's cold," she says by way of explanation. Percy frowns at her. He'd only be out there for a few minutes at most, and it won't kill him in the slightest. He says as much. "You really, _really_ don't have to."

Percy almost wants to get offended, because he can see a light on in what must be the kitchen, and he has a feeling that car outside belongs to her mom. He doesn't feel right making Annabeth walk up the short path alone. Sally didn't raise him this way. "Do you not want me to meet your mom?" Percy questions, after a few seconds.

"It's not that," Annabeth denies quickly, sending a furtive glance at the house. It's white; pristine. It's clearly an upper-scale home. There's little blue curtains that frame the inside of every window, a nice contrast to the dark shutters outside, and there's two flower pots just outside the door. He's not sure why Annabeth's refusing him.

"Okay," he says slowly, sliding his hand off the door handle. "Everything alright?"

"Yes," Annabeth replies just as slowly, laughing like Percy's being ridiculous. "I'll see you tomorrow. And you don't have to pick me up; Reyna lives a few houses down."

"Okay." Percy wants to say goodnight properly, with a hug and a wish of sweet dreams or something, but Annabeth pushes her door open and climbs out before he can even muster up the words. "I'll see you."

She leans down and smiles tightly, giving him a wave before she shuts the door. Percy stares after her with some combination of confusion, interest, and adoration, probably.

Not one to disrespect someone's wishes, Percy stays in his car. He doesn't pull away until she closes the front door behind herself.

;;

Three weeks later, and Percy would be lying if he said he wasn't one of the shoddiest best friends _ever_.

He and Axe had both been busy; Axe picking up more gigs than he was used to, since his takeover of open mic night at the bar, and he was still trying to answer the essential question—how much time is _too_ much time with Kay? Axe had confessed to Percy that he'd never been all that talented at balancing his relationships, offering up a sheepish apology, but Percy understood.

He understood really well, actually, considering that his moments spent without Annabeth by his side had been few and far in between for the past month. Annabeth didn't seem opposed, but he's pretty sure she made up faulty lies some nights to give him space, like she thinks she's a bother. Percy thinks Annabeth's just as pretty as she is ridiculous.

Which—that's more of a thing now, too, Percy guesses. He's always considered Annabeth pretty (and, if you ask him, it's hard _not_ to consider her pretty), but lately that thought battles its way to the forefront of his mind every time she bites the end of her pencil, or laughs at him when he says something stupid. Percy thinks it's probably embarrassing how good Annabeth has him.

It's also _obvious_ according to a unanimous vote of their lunch table (minus Annabeth, of course, she'd run off to get something out of her locker as Axe breached the topic against Percy's insistence). _It's a wonder Annabeth doesn't know_, Jason had said wryly, the group having a laugh at Percy's expense. _Of course she knows_, Axe had scoffed, _she's just nice enough not to embarrass Percy by telling him she knows_.

Percy doesn't think that's true for a few reasons. The first being, Annabeth _never_ misses an opportunity to embarrass Percy a little, and the second being, Annabeth would probably run away screaming if she had any clue. Or, at least, that's what Percy thinks. When he had said so at the lunch table, everyone had rolled their eyes at him, coupled with quite a few unkind _shut the fuck up_s and some particular invectives Percy's not so sure he wants to repeat. But, that's what friends are for, he supposes.

His crush might have even waned a little, if Annabeth weren't so happy to spend Saturdays pretending to do their weekend homework while they binge-watch reality television—well, to be fair, most of the time it's just Annabeth pointing out all the faults while Percy complains that she's ruining his fun, but. His point is, he might have been able to shake the damned, suffocating thing once and for all, if Annabeth didn't do half the things that she insists on doing. Like helping his mom organize her cooking space as she frantically prepares cupcakes for the community bake sale, or swiping frosting down the side of his face when he steps foot into the kitchen. Things would be a lot easier if Annabeth didn't keep touching his upper arm, which Percy very quickly decided was his favorite place to be touched. Things would be a lot easier if he didn't catch Annabeth looking at him sometimes, and maybe a little easier if she didn't catch him staring every five minutes.

That all happens, though, and Annabeth graces him with multiple hugs some days, and Percy feels like he's living some of the best moments of his life. Even if he and Annabeth never work out—even if the crush is just as unrequited as he thinks it is—he'll still look back on homework sessions with her fondly and wistfully. Probably even add a little _those were the days, man_, to the end of his reminiscences.

But, the real point is, Axe's birthday snuck up on him. Percy knew it was November, and he _knew_ Axe's birthday was on the eighteenth, but he never really thought about how close or far away that was until he glanced at the date on the board and saw a "November 17th, 2014" glaring back at him.

The first person he goes to is Kay.

"So," he says, like he shows up to Kay and Axe's shared locker between second and third period every day. "Have you thought about Axe's birthday?"

"Yes," Kay says, slowly. "Have _you_?"

Percy nods, because _yes, actually, he's been thinking about it for the past half hour_. "I was just thinking we were all going to do something. Has he mentioned anything?"

"He said he wanted something normal, if there was any party at all. Like, I think he wants just the gang? Something small." Kay shrugs, being ultimately less helpful than Percy hoped she would be.

"But it's his eighteenth. Don't most people want something, like, _huge_?"

"You know Axe," Kay says, lifting one shoulder with a small, sickening smile. "He only needs two things: his friends and his music."

"And you," Percy adds, making Kay beam. He returns the grin briefly, but clears his throat after a second. "So, like, something small? And with music?"

"I guess. He hasn't really said much; I think he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"Make a big deal out of what?" Axe questions, approaching them as he sidesteps a flock of freshman.

Percy forces himself to reply casually, without sounding guilty. "Nothing."

Axe glances between them, shrugging in the end to show he's unbothered. He reaches past Kay into the locker she's holding open, pulling out a red binder. "Hey, you."

Kay accepts his greeting kiss, reaching up to hold Axe's face in her hands—disgustingly tender, really. Percy's heart swells up to a surely unnatural size; proud and happy and warm at the sight of them. "I'm a minor! Keep it PG-13!"

"Please," Axe snorts. "You and Annabeth are worse than this, and you haven't even _kissed_."

"How could we possibly be worse?"

"Unresolved romantic tension," Kay and Axe say in unison, sharing a look. "We've discussed this," Axe continues nonchalantly. "Like, at first it was cute, and now it's come to the point where we're starting to place bets on when it happens."

_It_. Percy feels nauseous just at the implication of the all-encompassing _it_, which probably includes kissing Annabeth for an extended period of time, and maybe getting to hold her closer than he usually gets to. Percy doesn't even _try_ thinking about having the privilege of holding her hand, since he doesn't feel like fainting in the hallway. Annabeth's certainly not for the weak-hearted, he's learned.

"I'll see you guys at lunch," Percy mumbles, though Axe and Kay are already surfing another topic and give him cheery goodbyes. They bring out the best in each other, Percy thinks; Axe's smiles have been more frequent than they've ever been besides that time he got a new skateboard in middle school, and Kay's been a little less rough around the edges, softening up like she can't help herself.

Percy likes to think that he and Annabeth do the same for one another, but the truth of the matter is, Annabeth's probably become _more_ sarcastic since she and Percy started doing whatever they're doing, and Percy's just become more embarrassing.

And, speaking of Annabeth, Percy's going to have to ask for her guidance on some last minute birthday celebration planning, since he's the worst friend ever. Who forgets their best friend's eighteenth birthday anyways? _Horrible people_, that's who.

He catches her just after the lunch bell rings, having skipped out on the last few minutes of his marine science class, after telling a not-quite-lie about having to go to the front office to speak to someone. Annabeth helps out in the office second and third period, since she hadn't needed another science and finished off her foreign language before senior year, and it's not the first time Percy's said he needs to go to the office when he really just wants to see Annabeth.

He latches onto her arm before she can get too far down the hallway, and Percy selfishly doesn't let go, even after she's turned to him with vague surprise in her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he says, after a pronounced moment.

She smiles, but waits a bit before she speaks. "I didn't think it was anyone else. I can't say that many people tend to grab my arm where you do."

"I—sorry," he sputters, dropping his hand. _God_, he's an idiot. Annabeth's teasing name-calling has more truth to it than she thinks.

She shrugs. "Nothing to be sorry for. Did you need something?"

"I—yes, actually, I'm a horrible friend and I deserve to go to best friend hell," Percy says, all in one breath. Annabeth's watching him intently, like what he's saying is actually _interesting_, and there just aren't many people that look at him that way. Percy wants to kiss her.

"Best friend hell?" She raises one eyebrow, pressing her lips together to quell a smile. Percy wants to kiss her _badly_, it seems.

"Yes," he says, and it's too slow. His thoughts tend to turn to molasses when Annabeth's near, lately. "Yes. I forgot Axe's birthday is tomorrow."

Her eyes brighten, and she hitches her backpack further up her shoulder. "Is it? How old is he? Nineteen?"

"Eighteen," Percy corrects. "But I have no clue what to do. Kay says he just wants something small? Just the group."

"Why not just a get together at someone's house?" Annabeth suggests. "Like a movie night?"

"We did that for Halloween, though; the guys did, anyways. I know you were trick-or-treating with your cousins, and Kay with her little brothers and sister. I mean, eighteen is a _big_ deal; I want it to be cool. For him."

Annabeth nods, then cocks her head to the side. She reaches out and taps her knuckles against his sternum. Percy grips onto his backpack strap tighter than he ever has to keep himself from reaching up and catching her hand. "I like your shirt. And I think you should just ask yourself what Axe likes best. I think he'll appreciate whatever you come up with, Percy."

His mind's still reeling a little from Annabeth's touch—even through fabric, _honestly_, but the small gesture was so natural and comfortable that his stomach is turning pleasantly. Percy is so, _so_ here for casual touches from Annabeth. "You think?"

"I know," she amends. "Just think. Axe likes us. Kay, too."

"I think he more than 'likes' Kay," Percy comments idly, and Annabeth hums her agreement before she makes a vague hand motion as if to say 'what else?' "Uh, music. Obviously. Hair dye. Piercings. Cigarettes, sometimes?"

"Well, at least he can legally buy them now," Annabeth replies. "We could sign him up for another open mic night."

Percy nods immediately, but then he grimaces. "No, he wants something small. Axe's birthdays are always pretty…"

"Intimate?" Annabeth guesses. "Yeah, he seems like that kind of guy." She rests one shoulder against the nearest wall while she thinks, looking at the faded out blue paint. Percy likes a lot of things about Annabeth, but her thinking face is top twenty, for sure. "Oh!" Annabeth exclaims, expression lighting up. "A bonfire!"

"A… _bonfire_," Percy repeats in awe. He can see it now; dragging he and his mom's old firepit out of the shed in their backyard, asking everyone to chip in with a few lawn chairs, Axe sitting and playing guitar while the whole gang listens in, conversations carrying on here and there. "He'd _love_ that. He's going to love that so much."

Annabeth beams, nodding excitedly. "I hope so; it'll be so fun. How are we going to let everyone know without Axe overhearing?"

Percy leans against the wall, facing Annabeth and crossing his arms. "I mean, we're already late to lunch," he says. The tardy bell rings overheard just to prove his claim. "He's definitely already there."

"We could text everyone?" Annabeth proposes. "My phone's off, though, we'll have to use yours."

"You _actually_ turn your phone off during school?" Percy questions. Annabeth's such a stickler for the rules, it's impressive sometimes.

"I don't want my phone to ring in class. Like yours did _six times_ in Chemistry."

"Was it really six?" Percy makes a little face as plucks his phone out of his pocket, but before he can get to work on drafting a text, Annabeth pulls it from his grasp, entering in his password and humming to herself and she navigates to his messages. "Wha—_how_ do you do that?"

"What, know your password to everything?" Annabeth glances up at him, a smile in her eyes that doesn't make its way to her lips. "You're very predictable, Percy. Almost all of them are either your birth year, your graduation year, or your mom's birthday. Or 'swimming,'" she says, with humor.

"I bet all of your passwords are really complicated and impossible to remember," he grumbles.

"They're all some combination of the last four numbers of my Social Security number, my last name, or the name of what was my favorite song when I started needing passwords."

"The song being?"

"None of your business, that's what," Annabeth shoots back, but Percy can tell that she's not telling him solely for the purpose of not telling him, and hardly because she wants it to remain a secret. "There. Everyone's all texted and good to go."

"Where would I be without you?" Percy asks, albeit rhetorically. The corner of Annabeth's lips turn up when she lifts the shoulder that isn't pressed up against the wall. Percy's eyes catch on her lips—reddened from her bad habit of biting them—and he thinks that, if he had enough confidence, liking Annabeth would be easy. Annabeth probably likes guys that give off that composed vibe like she has; like they know exactly where they're going and what they're doing and why they're doing it. She probably likes guys that have initiative, and it sucks that Percy can't be that guy, really. It's not the first time that he wishes he had played football instead of hopping in a swimming pool, or dressed cooler than he does. He's still wearing the Converse he's had since the beginning of junior year, still wearing clothes he's had for years, still continuing on with his lame people skills and frankly awful attempts at being charming.

"Come on," she says, tipping her head in the direction of the cafeteria. "We should go."

Percy would probably stand there in the hallway forever, sneaking covert glances at Annabeth's lips and hands and collarbones, but, logically, that isn't the best course of action. He falls into step beside her, and there's probably not enough space between them, if their bumping hands are anything to go by.

Eventually, Percy just pushes his hand into his pocket. Better safe than thoroughly embarrassed, anyways.

;;

It doesn't take Percy long to realize that organizing a bonfire is much easier in theory. For one, he has to talk Jason into coming over early so that he can help him move the fire pit, and he has to beg the rest of them to bring whatever snacks they can sacrifice. Apparently, his mom has shopping planned for _tomorrow, sorry, sweetheart_. Whatever, honestly, Percy can still pull this off. One hundred per cent.

Reyna, who truly is an angel in disguise as far as Percy's concerned, arrives with four lawn chairs, six bags of chips, and two packs of canned sodas. Percy could kiss her if it weren't for the whole Annabeth thing. The thing that actually isn't a thing, but still feels like a thing, and might never be a thing, but Percy will always consider a thing. Yes, that.

Nico arrives with nothing in hand besides a lighter, and Percy supposes that's something he should have thought about earlier. Thankfully, his mom remembers how to even light a fire in the pit, and Nico is all too eager as a student. He happily accepts his position as "fire maintainter"—Leo's words, not his—and fidgets with the fire iron while Percy rushes around, pushing chairs into place and moaning about how much he hates being a procrastinator.

His friends are probably the best people in the world, though, because every time he passes by Hazel she gives him an encouraging smile, and Jason always claps him on the back like he's saying _job well done_, and even Reyna looks like she's proud of him, even if she's gained the nickname of 'Ice Queen' from Leo.

At long last, about a quarter until 8 o'clock, Percy sinks down onto the grass and stares at their little set up. There's an old folding table they pulled out of Percy's garage—the one his mom uses during community yard sales—and an array of chairs in some vaguely circular shape around the fire pit. There's a small stack of gifts on the table, mostly just little things because Axe won't accept anything that costs over twenty dollars, and there's enough snacks to last them all night. Probably.

He leans back on his hands and glances around curiously, trying to see if he's forgotten anything. Piper's dialing Kay off to his left, letting her know that they're all set up and it's time to bring Axe over, Leo's jogging towards Percy's house with an insane amount of energy, Reyna and Jason are giving their best attempt at organizing the pile of snacks, and Nico's poking at the fire with fascination on his face.

Percy pauses, doing a quick headcount. He's just reaching into his pocket to call Annabeth and demand she arrive _immediately_, but two soft hands cover his eyes before he can get that far. "I'm not going to make you guess; this is Annabeth," she announces, after a moment.

Percy smiles widely enough to make the blazing fire look dim, probably, but he manages to compose himself before he turns and tackles Annabeth into a hug that's really just a thinly-veiled excuse to be closer to her. She just barely keeps them from hitting the ground hard, catching them both on her elbow. "You're like an overexcited dog," Annabeth says flatly, but she seems pretty unperturbed for someone who probably has a rock or two digging into her elbow.

Percy smiles and holds on tight to her upper arm. "I reckon a dog would have licked your face by now," he mentions, somehow managing to roll over and sit up casually beside Annabeth like he's actually smooth and graceful. He glances down at his body in something like awe; he'd been expecting at least one injury in extracting himself from Annabeth.

"Please don't lick my face," Annabeth says pleasantly, and Percy laughs to himself while she takes a look around. "This pulled together nicely."

"You're here so late," Percy complains, even if the get together hasn't even officially started.

She rolls her eyes. "Looks like you managed just fine, you needy, needy child."

"They'll be here any minute!" Piper calls out, mostly to Percy and Annabeth, since they're the only ones a dozen feet away from the rest of the group.

They both call back _okay_s, and Annabeth turns to look at him with a gentle smile on her face. Percy thinks he was totally fine before Annabeth came along, just a leaf riding the light and simple breeze, and now he's been robbed of all the oxygen around him, falling towards the ground too fast to even get his bearings. In some ways, he's kind of enjoying the panic of it all.

"We should join them," she says after a few seconds, but she's still reclining back on her elbows like they've got all the time in the world. Her hair's down and she looks so relaxed, so _comfortable_, that he just wants to pull her against his chest and not let go for a while.

"We should," Percy agrees, shifting until his arm is pressed up against hers. "We will in a second," he amends. Annabeth gives him a curious look, one that skitters all around his face like she can't decide where to settle. "Just want it to be us, for a minute."

He definitely sounds like an idiot, and Annabeth's definitely calling him that in her head, but she just gives him a small, pleased smile. Percy thinks he's said the right thing.

"I'm—" Annabeth cuts herself off, like she's still trying to figure out what she wants to say, and Percy waits patiently. He knows what it's like to have trouble putting how you feel or what you're thinking into words, and he can tell that Annabeth's trying to say something important. The least he can do is give her some time to compose herself. "I'm glad y—I mean, all of us—started talking again. I think we're good together. All of us."

"I agree, all of us," Percy says, slow smile spreading on his face. "Think we're really good, all of us."

"I'll knock you flat on your back," Annabeth threatens, and Percy almost tells her that she already has, really. She glances away from the fire, where she'd pinned her gaze, and scans his face again. Percy feels himself warm under her gaze, but he knows he's not blushing, and even if he were it wouldn't matter. The fire light's a good mask. "Ready to go?"

He nods, slowly, but he'd be content sitting there the whole night with Annabeth, blades of grass leaving little shallow impressions on his skin. Annabeth stands, helps him up, and holds his hand for what Percy dares to deem a second too long.

"Dammit," Jason mutters, as soon as they approach the table. Almost in unison, he and Leo reach into their back pockets and begrudgingly hand Reyna and Piper five dollar bills.

"Do I even want to know?" Annabeth asks, raising an eyebrow as she reaches for a red, plastic cup. Percy opens two cans of Coke while Annabeth writes her name on her cup, then Percy's on another. He trades Annabeth a red can for his assigned cup, sending her a quick smile in thanks. She returns it. Percy almost drops his cup in the process, but thankfully his subconscious has his back.

"You don't," Piper says quickly, before anyone else can get a word in edgewise. "Just boys, placing and losing bets."

Before Percy can even ask, because he _does_ want to know, actually, Axe steps out of Percy's sliding glass door with a huge grin on his face, Kay not a moment behind him.

"_Guys_," Axe says with a crushing amount of gratefulness. He bites his bottom lip to reign in his smile.

"This thing is heavy," Kay complains, passing the guitar off to Axe, and he drops a quick kiss to her lips in thanks. She seems much less disgruntled after that.

"Happy birthday," Percy says as Axe pulls him into a one-armed hug. "You're so _old_."

"Shut up," Axe replies with a laugh, shoving his best friend's shoulder without much force. "Thank you so much. It really… This means so much to me. I want you to know that."

"Stop before I start crying," Percy tells him, only half-kidding. Axe squeezes his shoulder before he leans down to hug Annabeth, saying something that Percy can't hear and making her laugh.

Percy isn't all that proud of the jealousy that makes his chest burn for a few seconds, but he's relieved when Axe moves down the line to give Leo a hug. Kay drags Percy into a conversation she's having with Jason, and much to his dismay, Annabeth slowly moves away until she's immersed in some heated discussion with Leo and Reyna.

"He wouldn't stop asking questions the whole drive here," Kay says, like she's actually bothered by Axe talking her ear off. "Honestly, it was like an endless stream of 'where are you taking me?' and 'look at that car, isn't that a nice car?' and 'I'm so bored, are we there yet?'"

Percy smiles at that, downing a sip of his Coke and making a face when an ice cube hits his teeth. Before he can even comment on what Kay said, Axe himself materializes by her side, giving Jason an amused nod. "Heard you lost a bet."

"What was that about anyways?" Percy asks, fidgeting with his drink. Jason shrinks in on himself a little while he sends Axe an outraged, taking a long sip out of his cup. Axe and Kay laugh. Percy feels like he's missing something.

"Don't throw me under the bus," Jason says, which only makes Axe chuckle more. "We've _all_ been doing it."

"Been doing what?" Percy presses, and he's not sure if his palms are clammy from the condensation of his drink or his own nerves. He's pretty sure he already knows the answer, thinking of Axe and Kay's teasing at their locker, but he can't stop himself from asking all the same.

The three of them share a look, and Kay's the first to turn back to him. "Placing bets on certain…Romantic advancements. Between you and another person."

Percy just nods and probably blushes, if his suddenly overheated state is anything to go by. "Right. I figured."

"I'm angry that I lost five bucks because _you_ don't have the guts to kiss her," Jason grumbles, clearly still bitter over his loss.

Percy shrugs. "Should have made a smarter bet, I guess."

"You'd be a horrible gambler," Annabeth says, and Percy nearly spills his drink when he jolts at the sound of her voice. "Too much emotion on your face."

"You're telling me," Jason says lowly, and Percy very much wants to toss his drink down Jason's shirt.

"And speaking of presents," Kay announces suddenly, like someone actually mentioned gifts just a minute prior, "I believe Alexander has a few of those."

Percy feels his own eyes widen. He's heard a grand total of two people call Axe "Alexander," the first being their principal, who had been hastily corrected, and the second being Axe's father, who wasn't corrected, but rather sent a sideways, irritated glance. Axe _never_ lets people get away with saying his first name, not unless they truly don't know better.

Much to his bewilderment, Axe just gives Kay a kind smile and lets her lead him by the hand to the table. Percy blinks after them, but no one else picks up on the significance like he does.

Annabeth taps his upper arm, concern written all over her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Percy says slowly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just tensed up, is all," Annabeth replies with a shrug.

"I—It's weird. Axe never lets people call him by his first name. He doesn't even let _me_ call him by his first name."

"Kay's the same way." Annabeth glances over at the pair of them, Kay offering Axe a nondescript box from the present pile and Axe staring at her like she's the real gift, in this situation. "They're different with each other, you know."

"That's what happens when you're in love," Percy responds, feeling himself smile a little. He's always thought that Axe could use someone; someone who's long-term, someone who'll be a home away from home, someone who he'll be able to look out for. "Probably," he tacks on, after a second.

"Probably," Annabeth agrees, edging towards the fire. Percy watches her go; watches her take a seat on the grass, crossing her ankles one over the other, regardless of the fact that there's six perfectly good chairs sitting around the fire. If it were anyone else besides Annabeth, Percy would probably opt for sitting in one of the donated chairs—better on his back and far less uncomfortable—but, much to his back's dismay, it _is_ Annabeth, and he doesn't hesitate before he settles down beside her.

"You put the chairs too far from the fire," she mentions idly.

"Maybe if you would have gotten here on time, you could have pointed that out _before_ the party started." Percy adds a little more attitude than he usually would, just because he knows it'll make one corner of Annabeth's lips turn up. And it does, just as he forecasted, but it comes coupled with a shoulder nudge and a brushing of fingertips. It's like the newscaster telling you it'll be overcast all weekend, only to see sunny, cloudless skies.

Thanks to Percy's mind lingering on the weather, he notices Annabeth shiver as she shifts her hands—disappointingly and perhaps deliberately out of his reach. He opens his mouth to ask her if she brought a jacket but left it in her car, but Annabeth gives him a warning look like she knows what he's about to say. "Pipe down, hero. I'm just a little cold. I'll let you know if I spontaneously begin to freeze."

Percy scowls at her. "I was just going to offer to get you a jacket."

Annabeth rolls her eyes, but he knows her well enough to see that she's hardly annoyed, if she is at all. "I'm fine. The whole point of a fire is warmth."

"Just… Let me know. If you need anything."

"Got it, _Mom_," Annabeth mutters, tipping her head back to look at the sky. Percy looks away, since that's probably more intelligent then wasting half his life watching Annabeth look at things that aren't him.

Axe ambles over to them, sitting criss-cross and stretching out his arms. "Look at my jacket," he says happily.

It's exactly the kind of jacket a person like Axe should wear; black leather with what looks like a couple diamond-shaped studs up on his shoulders. "I don't believe that cost under twenty dollars," Percy comments, giving Axe a smug look. "Was this yet another exception to the rule for Kay?"

"Rules don't apply to Kelsi," Axe says, and he almost sounds offended. "She's special."

"_God_," Percy says, dropping his head back in exasperation. "Why are you confessing your love to me? Go to her, young grasshopper."

Annabeth seems to get endless amusement out of that, laughing like Percy's only seen a few times; eyes crinkling at the corners and fascinating little dents appearing in her cheeks. Percy, and far, _far_ from the first time, thinks he'd like to kiss her.

Axe looks almost uncomfortable, which Percy has to admit is a new expression on his best friend's face—or, at least, he's never been exposed to it. "I'm going to leave now," Axe proclaims, standing up and coolly straightening out his new jacket before he plucks his guitar up out of a nearby chair and takes the one closest to the refreshments table. It's not long before Percy hears Axe start up a song he's been working on here and there; something Percy's heard in little fragments as he called Axe to catch up, or when he visited a few nights ago to help Axe finish writing the lyrics.

Percy's pretty sure that he'll hate himself for it later, but he lies flat on his back and uses one arm as a makeshift pillow. His skin is going to itch from the grass and his hair's going to have questionable signs of nature in it, but it's worth it to get to close his eyes and hear Axe play—one of the few things that can quiet Percy's constantly whirring mind entirely.

He can hear conversations going on, the indistinguishable chatter with laughs and outraged cries here and there, but it's just as much music to his ears as Axe's playing is. Percy hums along to the song once he catches on at the chorus, and it isn't until a hand rests over his arm that Percy remembers Annabeth's beside him at all.

"You look peaceful," she comments, and Percy kind of wants to point out that she just _interrupted_ said peace, but he supposes she's worth it. She squeezes his arm, the one that's half-pinned beneath his head and now half-pinned beneath her hand. For whatever reason, Percy's involuntary reaction is to flex.

Now, years and years from now, Percy's sure he'll be sitting around in his living room with his mother by his side and a few kids running around wreaking havoc while his wife tries to tame them, and he'll be able to laugh about this moment. But for now, Percy gives an internal, minute-long groan that hopefully expresses to his subconscious how much of a _piece of shit _it is.

"Did you just—?"

"I wasn't—"

Annabeth laughs before he can even finish his explanation, but she doesn't move her hand either. He can't tell if he's winning or losing, here. "You just flexed. Didn't you?"

"It was a reflex," he says meekly.

"Was it now?" Annabeth sends him a look, and Percy can't think of any interpretation other than, plainly, _I'm flirting with you_.

Which, _honestly_, couldn't Annabeth have picked a time where he'd just done something really cool? Like successfully performing a skateboard trick of high difficulty, or winning some medal at a swim competition. That would have been a little easier to swallow, and he doubts he would be blushing half as much as he is now. Maybe if he closes his eyes, it'll just go away.

"Don't be embarrassed," Annabeth says, and she runs her hand up his arm until she's gripping his elbow. Percy's pretty sure his facial expression reads _pain pain deep and terrible pain_. "It was a nice reflex, if that helps."

"It doesn't," Percy says, or, rather, _squeaks_. He keeps his eyes shut tightly, tries to convince his blood vessels in his face really don't have to do that whole dilating thing he learned about last year in health. They could just, like, not respond to Annabeth's touch at all, since that would make Percy's like a good fifty per cent easier.

Instead of leaving Percy alone and letting him wallow in his shame that'll probably make him blush for decades to come, Annabeth lies down beside him. Percy could _cry_. "I didn't mean to embarrass you; it was just funny."

"Thanks," Percy mutters, wanting to drop the topic altogether. "Just not all that into making myself look stupid."

"You didn't look stupid," Annabeth admonishes. "Don't think of yourself that way. I'd even go as far as to compliment your wonderful, wonderful swimmer's build."

She says it with just enough sarcasm that he could either take it literally, or assume she's messing with him. Percy doesn't know what route to follow, so he just paves a new way and doesn't say anything.

"I think you should hum along again," Annabeth says, a little while later. "That was nice, too."

This time it's genuine, but Percy can't bring himself to do anything even the slightest bit risky out of fear that he'll ruin whatever small chance he has once and for all.

It's been a while since he's liked someone how he likes Annabeth. He feels like he's falling more in love every time he exists near her, and that it itself would be enough to send Annabeth running in the opposite direction. He's never wanted to be _close_ to someone like he wants to be with her—and, sure, he's only human, so he's had his fair share of daydreams about getting more physical with her, but what he really wants is to know what's going on in her head. He wants to hear all of the stories she's gone so long without mentioning, she's forgotten how to tell them. He wants to know what her thoughts are on anything and everything; wants her to tell him all that she wants, because God knows he'd sit there hanging onto every word.

But that's selfish—isn't it? Annabeth's been giving and giving lately, telling him things she visibly struggled with, offering up information that Percy never explicitly asked for. She's told him all about her living situation, let him meet her dad in a house she was clearly (and unnecessarily) embarrassed by. And all Percy's given her is meeting his mother.

"Sorry," Annabeth blurts into the silence. "I didn't…"

Percy laughs now, because she's never apologized to him for a single crass remark; not a single punch to the shoulder or cruel laugh at his expense, but she apologizes for his own embarrassment over a stupid, knee-jerk reaction. He wants to kiss her for being so ridiculous, but everything Annabeth does makes him want to kiss her. "It's _fine_," Percy says, half-groaning, switching out his arms to keep the one from falling asleep. He blindly presses the knuckles of his newly-freed hand against her shoulder, and Annabeth reaches up to shift his hand downward until he's closer to their spot.

Percy wants to turn and look at her more than anything but he's not so sure if he trusts himself right now. Annabeth's kind of stupidly alluring to him, and he wouldn't put it beneath his impulsive nature to plant one on her. "I've never met my dad," Percy admits after a while.

He can almost _hear_ Annabeth's sudden interest, and it would make him nervous if he weren't so used to Annabeth actually caring about what he has to say. "Yeah?"

"Yep," Percy says, popping the 'p'. "I've heard he was a nice guy, though; really loved my mom and all, just. Couldn't stay. One of those things. Mom always says I look just like him, and that makes me feel guilty because she has to see me every day and she hasn't seen him for about eighteen years. You know."

"I don't know," Annabeth responds. "But I'm glad you're telling me."

Percy nods, but he's not even sure if she's looking his way to see it. "I don't really have much to tell about him. I think he might have been around for a little bit while I was a baby, but Mom never really told me the specifics. I never asked."

"Was it…" Annabeth pauses, like she isn't sure whether or not she's allowed to ask a question. Percy presses his knuckles more firmly against her arm before he removes them entirely, instead resting his hand over his stomach. "What was it like growing up without a dad?"

"I didn't really know anything different, so it was never really a problem for me. Mom was always a great parent, and it's not like I was super rebellious, so discipline wasn't much of a problem. I think my mom is just so good that you feel _guilty_ doing anything bad, so you just never do it at all. Pretty good parenting tactic if you ask me."

"But it didn't affect you?" Annabeth presses. "At all?"

Percy mulls over that for a second. "I'm sure it did," he starts, hesitantly, "but my mom's proud of me now, so whatever it was didn't change me too much, I guess. I mean, it was a little weird sometimes to talk to friends, and have them ask about my dad, but there were tons of other kids who only had one parent too. I wasn't alone, or outcasted or anything. Not for that reason, anyways."

"But you were outcasted?"

Percy opens his eyes and turns to her. Annabeth's looking back, and he decides it's time to sit up before he does something reckless. Stretching his back with a sigh, he tries to continue as casually as possible, brushing blades of grass off his shirt. "Yeah, I guess. No more than any other kid, though. Dyslexia made me look stupid. I cried a lot when I was younger, but I got over that. Just general name-calling, nothing too intense."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth says earnestly; stricken. "If I had any clue, I wouldn't, like, call you 'idiot' and 'stupid' all the time. I never considered the fact that that would be a sore spot."

"It's not," Percy rushes out, reaching out a hand that just kind of floats mid-air, and hopefully communicates some variation of _it's totally cool, don't worry_. "I like when you call me names. Well, I mean, that sounded weird, but I meant that I don't mind it. It doesn't kill me, or anything, because I know you don't mean it. And even if you did mean it, I… I don't know. Please stop me any time, here."

Annabeth lets out a laugh, one that sounds more like a giggle, and Percy smiles at the sound. "You may stop," she allows, sighing as she sits up beside him, criss-cross. "Do you ever wonder about him?"

"My dad?" Percy asks, even if she knows that's who she's talking about. He glances at his worn-out Converse, noting the fact that they're untied. "I mean, sometimes. But it's not like I need more than what I have; Mom's a good provider. I don't have any, like, buried 'what if' feelings about him."

"So he's just not in your life? Simple as that?"

Percy shrugs, reaching forward until he can tie his shoe. He doesn't even want to know how long he's been in danger of tripping. "I just never had much of a reason to wonder about him. Like, I think I would have to feel like I was missing something to actually be curious about him, but I've never… I've always felt like I have everything I need. So it wasn't really a question."

"I can't believe people like you are real," Annabeth tells him incredulously. When he looks at her, there's something curious and awed in her gaze. "I probably would have already tried to find him twenty times."

"Maybe one day, I'll look," Percy decides, though he's not sure if he really wants to know. He likes his life; likes the small little houses and apartments he and his mom have always shared, likes their little corner of the world. He doesn't want to bring unrest by wondering about a man who, for whatever reason, wasn't able to stay in either of their lives. "I'm good for now, though."

"You're a good guy, Percy." Annabeth sounds incredibly earnest, like it's the truest thing she's ever told him, and Percy likes the thought of that.

"Thanks," he answers, sparing her a glance, and he thinks it's probably too soft. The fire pops loudly, and Percy looks away. "We should go hang out with them. We're being antisocial."

"We're talking to each other," Annabeth points out, but she doesn't argue when Percy stands, knowing better than to try and help her up.

He makes it a point to talk to Axe more for the next few hours, since it _is_ his birthday and he should be getting the vast majority of Percy's attention. Annabeth doesn't always join in on their conversations, but she does smile in passing or steal Axe away for a few moments to ask him about his music.

The energy in the air reminds him of the county fair, in a way, and it's weird to think that just a few months ago he and Annabeth were basically strangers who hadn't spoken in over a year. And it's strange to think that he wasn't close with Reyna or Piper or Hazel or Kay; that he didn't have this huge group of friends who he trusted implicitly, ones who trusted him _back_, ones who would be there anytime of any day if Percy made the call. Percy's not even sure how he got by without the support group that he has now.

Axe is playing a song Percy helped him write. He's singing it far too loudly for the quiet night, and the fire's crackling like it doesn't know what to do with the buzz in the air. Percy knows the feeling.

;;

Percy shuts his locker only to come face-to-face with Annabeth. He's just as much frightened as he is pleased. "Good morning," he greets, cautiously.

"I have a complaint," Annabeth announces without preamble.

"Let me go get my manager," Percy says, meaning to be funny but really just coming off as confused.

He gets an eye roll for his trouble. "I have a student council meeting after school, and there's reportedly no refreshments, nor is there an end time."

"That sounds… Awful," Percy admits, feeling very, very glad that he isn't one of those people who went out for student council. "Your life sucks, doesn't it?"

Annabeth narrows her eyes at him. "I have a second complaint." He gestures as if to say _be my guest_. It's not like he has a choice in the matter; Annabeth'll tell him whether he wants to know or not—which, obviously, he does. The sad truth is that he'd listen to Annabeth read selected passages out of his math textbook aloud. "You're not nice. And, as vice president of the student council, I request your attendance at this meeting."

Percy blinks at her. "I'm not going to that meeting."

"You'd go against the wishes of the student council?"

"They don't have any _real_ power," Percy challenges, crossing his arms, but Annabeth looks disappointed enough to make him feel guilty. "What if I have other plans?"

Some emotion flickers across Annabeth's face, and if Percy could place any bets, he'd say it was disquietude. "Do you?" she questions slowly, like she might not want the answer.

And Percy could lie; he could just as easily say that he has a movie night with his mom planned, even if his mom won't get home from work until midnight. He could tell Annabeth that he promised Axe he'd help out with a song, or he could say he's meeting someone else. Percy's never been all that gifted at lying himself, but lying to Annabeth would probably be a disaster. "I don't," he admits, and he reads relief on her face; sees it in the way her shoulders relax. He'd very much like to talk about that, but before he can, Annabeth tugs on his upper arm and walks him forwards a few steps.

"Well, the meeting starts now, so we better get a move on," Annabeth informs him, dropping his arm. "We're already late."

They navigate their way to one of the few conference halls around the front office, and Annabeth doesn't even apologize as she enters late, Percy trailing behind her. He's never actually _been_ back here; only passed the doors on his way to the principal's office a few times. They're incredibly spacious, like they're meant to hold twenty or so people rather than eight student council members.

"What's he here for?" a red-headed girl asks, sitting at the head of the table. She gives him a glance with neither contempt nor acceptance, but he still sits as far away from her as possible.

Annabeth pauses, contemplative, before she says "Athletic representation."

Two people snort, and someone mutters 'bullshit,' _which_, if you ask Percy, isn't very student-council-member-like. Everyone else just stares on like they'd rather be at home. Annabeth looks at him expectantly, so he waves to the table at large. "Hi, I'm Percy."

"We know who you are," one girl says, kind smile on her face, her Indian accent thick and her hair long. Percy smiles back. He loves kind people. "You won state last year, didn't you?"

"Oh, that," Percy says, a little uncomfortable. "Yeah, that was… Yes."

"This 'athletic representation'll really give us a new point of view," a blonde guy says sarcastically, but not maliciously. He pushes his glasses up his nose with one finger, and Percy finds himself thinking that the guy just looks _cool_. He's dressed in a button-up shirt, blazer tossed over the back of the chair, which he's leaning back in, perfectly balanced. Percy wishes he looked that cool in a button-up shirt, but he really just looks like a loser.

"Indeed it will," Annabeth says, nodding solemnly. Percy wants to interject and say _no_, actually, it won't, but the redhead brings the meeting to order before he can.

Percy still isn't sure why Annabeth wanted him to come, since the first twenty minutes are spent balancing his phone on his thigh trying his best to reply to Axe's texts one-handed. He really only pays attention when Annabeth mentions his name, and it's usually to ask his opinion on something Percy's never even _heard_ of.

"Tell us your opinion on women's suffrage, Percy," Annabeth says, fixing him with an pensive look. The rest of the council members snicker, a few leaning forward in their seats like they're saying _this is gonna be good_.

"I…" Percy gives Annabeth a somewhat panicked glance, but she stares on with bemusement. He hates her. "That's… Not good? Women are great, they shouldn't… Yeah."

"Riveting," the blonde guy comments, delighted at Percy's lack of eloquence. "This is a great idea. I love athletic representation."

Annabeth smiles over at Percy, and even if he has no clue what's going on, he smiles back. "I love it, too."

Percy internally groans as his face heats up. His blood vessels haven't been on his side since the day he met Annabeth. The smile doesn't go away, but Annabeth's eyes turn back to the redhead, who's looking increasingly more impatient as the minutes go on.

Percy texts Axe while Annabeth makes an argument for some voting method for homecoming—he's not really listening, but he likes the way Annabeth's voice sounds when she's passionate about something.

Percy: _red fucking alert_

Percy: _annabeth just implied she loves me_

Axe: _SAY IT BACK_

Percy scowls at his phone. Axe didn't even _ask_ for the story, much less the context.

Percy: _she didnt mean it like that?_

Axe: _SAY IT ANYWAYS_

Axe, Percy decides, is entirely unhelpful. When he glances up to check the status of the meeting, Annabeth is staring at him. He his head in lieu of a vocal hello, not wanting to disrupt the meeting, and Annabeth waves back in a way that probably only he notices. _I'm bored_, he mouths, which makes Annabeth break into a smile she tries to fight. Percy is distressed. Annabeth is pretty.

The meeting draws to a close after a grueling forty-five minutes of boring discussions Percy never wants to sit through again. Annabeth leaves after exchanging a round of goodbyes, hugging Michael goodbye. Percy must look disgruntled when she finally makes her way over to him, because right off the bat she tells him that Michael's her cousin. "Not that you asked," she continues, but not without a smirk.

"I didn't," Percy agrees, returning the friendly wave Michael and the kind girl send him on their way out of the room. "Look at me, making friends."

"Proud of you," Annabeth tells him, and Percy lifts his chin and smiles. "Come on, let's go."

They're the last people out, so Percy takes a few seconds to push all the chairs under the table and throw away a few ripped-up bits of a note sheet. Annabeth watches him with something that might be affection as he tidies up the room, and when he notices her gaze, he stands up straight and shrugs. "My mom taught me not to leave rooms all messy."

"Of course she did," Annabeth says, and _yep_, that's definitely a fond tone. Percy rubs an absent hand over his chest like it might make the constant warmth there go away.

They walk down the deserted hallways slowly, and Percy can't say that he's ever seen the school so empty. He and Annabeth's footsteps echo, and the little squeak Percy's left shoe makes sounds more like a screech in the quiet.

Annabeth winces every time, and once they're out on the concrete steps in front of her school, she looks at him. "Remind me to buy you new shoes for Christmas."

"I'm a size ten and a half," he replies pleasantly, and Annabeth repeats it to herself, like she's _actually _memorizing it. Percy's never met anyone like Annabeth. Their cars are amongst the last left, and Percy walks Annabeth to her car even if his is on the other side of the lot. "So… Any plans for the rest of the night?"

Annabeth gives him a look that lets him know he isn't even a quarter as casual as he thinks he is. Percy takes it in stride, since Annabeth answers his question despite his glaring obviousness. "I planned on going home and finishing my book, unless someone has a better idea."

Percy supposes he's supposed to be that someone, but sadly, he hasn't thought this far ahead into the conversation. He fumbles, stammering out little nonsensical half-sentences, but Annabeth seems blissfully unbothered.

"We should go to the park," Annabeth suggests, in between Percy's mumbling. "The one you mentioned you and Axe liked?"

"Oh, yeah," Percy enthuses. "I haven't been there in forever. I heard they painted it. There's this one slide there—like, it's so sick. And the monkey bars are in an S-shape. So cool."

Annabeth smiles at him indulgently. "I'm excited, then. Lead the way."

"Right," Percy replies, taking a few steps backward. "I'm just gonna…" He trails off and jerks a thumb over his shoulder, and Annabeth nods and waves goodbye.

He jogs to his car, trying to get some of the hype out of his system. _It's just Annabeth_, he tries to tell himself, but his mind just says _yes, I am aware, and that's why you're freaking out_. He decides to stop trying to reason with his mind after that.

Annabeth follows him, driving a couple hundred feet behind his car like people are actually _supposed_ to. She uses her blinker more times in the ten minute drive than Percy's used his all week, probably.

After mistakenly running a light that turned yellow instead of thinking about the fact that Annabeth wouldn't be able to make it, he pulls over on the shoulder of the road and digs his phone out of his pocket and calls Axe.

"Yeah?"

Axe sounds breathless. Percy doesn't want to ask. "Sorry for whatever I am most definitely interrupting—"

"You aren't, you aren't," Axe promises, but Percy hears rustling. "Just, um."

"Please, _please_ spare me details," Percy says on a laugh. "You never did tell me about the first kiss though."

"It was nice," Axe says evasively. "Anyways, why'd you call?"

"I'm going to the park with Annabeth. I think it might be a date? If you squint, that is. And I don't think Annabeth's squinting."

Axe apparently sees it fit to relay this message to Kay, who coos a little and tells Percy to have fun. "Just be yourself," Axe says wisely, and while the advice would sound cliche coming from anyone else, Axe just sounds earnest. "Seriously, yourself is the best way to go. Annabeth likes _you_, man."

"Don't get my hopes up," Percy grumbles, glancing in his rear view mirror. Annabeth's car is rolling forward, clearly anticipating the light turning green, so Percy pulls off the shoulder and rides slowly in the right lane. "Just need a last minute pep talk?"

"You're a great person and your smile makes flowers grow," Axe recites, the same one-liner advice he's been giving Percy since their middle school days. They'd both had Ms. Faith for science, and she'd never hesitate to give her students outlandish little compliments and encouragements. She must have told Percy that his smile made flowers grow twenty times that year. The words make Percy grin a little, regardless of their peculiarity, and the last of the nervous energy dissipates. "Go get 'em."

"Thanks, love you," Percy says, hanging up and dropping his phone as Annabeth comes up behind him. The park's only a little ways down this road, and honestly Percy could have just texted Annabeth the last of the directions, but it's kind of nice to have Annabeth following his lead rather than the other way around, for a change.

He picks a parking spot that's as close as possible to the cool slide, and Annabeth parks two spots over. "You're taking up, like, three spaces," Annabeth informs him, once they've both stepped out of their cars.

Percy glances at his poor parking and shrugs. It's not like there aren't a few dozen other spots to choose from. "The park!" he proclaims, holding up a hand like he's Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune. He even pastes a smile on his face for good measure.

Annabeth brushes by him, patting his ribcage as she goes. Percy's smile settles, falling into something more real and enamored, and he follows Annabeth as she loops around the park, taking it all in. "I have to admit," she starts, "I expected this park to be a lot more special, the way you talked it up."

"It's totally special," Percy defends, pointing at the slide. "Sick slide. Curvy monkey bars. Weird pointless dinosaur thing. Weird pointless cone-shaped thing."

Annabeth laughs at his poor attempts at selling the park, and Percy laces his fingers behind his back, thoroughly pleased. The sun's inching it's way down, and Percy likes the half-purple, half-orange sky that's looming over them. "I'm going on that slide," Annabeth says, after a moment, taking off across the park. Percy jogs after her.

"It's so _fun_," Annabeth breathes a few minutes later, after her seventh time on the slide. Percy smiles and _giggles_, which would be embarrassing in itself if Annabeth didn't tease him about it not a moment later.

"I miss being a kid," Percy confesses, sitting at the end of the slide and stretching his legs out. When he was younger, he used to fall off the edge of slides, his legs hardly long enough to reach the sand.

"I don't," Annabeth says thoughtfully. "This is more fun now that I'm older."

"You think?"

"I know," she corrects. "I mean, when you're young, it's kind of all play. So when you're older and it's mostly work, you appreciate the play more."

"That's… True," Percy finishes lamely. Annabeth sends him a smile over her shoulder, and Percy breathes a sigh of relief when he finds his footing just before he trips. Blessed, he is.

She glances around the park before her gaze catches on the swings. Percy starts walking in that direction before Annabeth can even voice her next destination. "How are things with your dad?" he questions, kicking at the sand a little.

"It's good," Annabeth shares, nodding to herself. "I think it's getting better, at least. He thinks he's really onto some big scientific discovery and people are funding him now, so it isn't out of his pocket. He seems happier lately."

"You think he's met someone, maybe?" Percy asks cautiously. He and Annabeth have never really exchanged thoughts on their parents dating other people, so he's not sure how she'll react to the topic. The last thing he wants to do is upset her.

Thankfully, Annabeth just shrugs before she plops down on a swing. "That's definitely a possibility. My dad's more likely to get happy over reading a good sci-fi book, though."

Percy cracks a smile at that. "He seems really interesting, in a mad scientist kind of way."

"He's great," Annabeth says with conviction, turning to look at Percy. "Mom didn't give him enough credit, when they were together. He still cares about her, I think." Percy nods wordlessly, kicking off the ground to get a little higher. "And, I mean… They were really in love, or at least I like to think they were, it just started falling in on them. They both worked so much; hardly ever saw each other, and Mom would disappear for weeks at a time. I think Dad just felt _lost_ to say the least, and my mom was stubborn enough to be secretive about it. It drove them apart in the end."

"Her stubbornness?" Percy asks. Annabeth nods. "That's rough."

"Yeah, but it's in the past. I just wish they could still be friends, if nothing else," Annabeth says, quietly, like it's something she hasn't let herself acknowledge until now. "It really sounds so whiny, because they're going through this really tough time and I'm over here complaining that my parents aren't friends after they went through a divorce."

"I think it's one of those things that takes time," Percy comments. "And you aren't _whiny_, I don't think. It's reasonable to wish your parents were still together in some way, shape, or form."

"Do you wish that for yours?"

"They weren't actually married," Percy shares, but he doesn't believe that's her point. "I mean, sometimes I do. Mom writes so many love stories; I'd like to see her actually get her happily ever after."

Annabeth coos at that, and Percy scratches the side of his face like it'll keep it from reddening. He probably just makes it worse. "That's sweet, Percy. She's really lucky to have you."

Percy shrugs, not really sure how to reply. He's just as lucky, if not more, to have his mom. She's done everything she can for him, half the time making sacrifices just to make sure he was happy.

They swing in silence for a few minutes, but Percy quits because he hates the sound of the wind rushing past his ears. Annabeth snorts when he says so, but she stops swinging too and decides they should give the monkey bars a go.

Percy swings from bar-to-bar with ease, since he's had a ton of practice coming here with Axe, fucking around while his best friend burned a few cigarettes and stared at the sky like it had better answers than the ones in his head. He even turns and goes back, dropping down in front of Annabeth and gesturing to say _your turn_.

She stares up at them with a challenge in her eyes, like she can intimidate an inanimate object. Percy watches on. "I feel like this is going to be so much harder than you made it look," Annabeth muses, but she hops up and gets a grip on the first bar. Percy glances down in distress at the small strip of skin that exposes, and _God_, Annabeth's tan skin could potentially be his kryptonite, but he doesn't ogle her for long. It feels forbidden, or unwarranted, or something.

"Christ," Annabeth mutters, and Percy walks alongside her just in case he needs to catch her, which might be stupid because the fall is less than a foot. She's certainly holding her own, though. "Damn. This _is_ hard."

"Do you play any sports?" Percy questions, out of the blue. It's something he'd always wondered but never asked.

"I played volleyball in middle school but I quit after I sprained my wrist," she says, a little breathlessly. She reaches for the next bar. "I did karate when I was little."

"Could you kick my ass?"

Annabeth peers down at him, and manages to look unamused even while she's struggling on children's playground equipment. "I could kick your ass with or without karate, you idiot."

Percy barks out a laugh at that, reaching out to steady Annabeth when she seems close to falling. He's not sure why she seems so adamant about doing it, since it's not like they're in a serious competition, but he doesn't mention it. Annabeth's determination is a little cute.

"Get your hand off my hip," Annabeth says, swaying out of his grasp. "Don't distract me right now."

"My hands are a distraction?"

"Literally _shut up_," Annabeth nearly growls, attempting some of her hair out of her face but not really succeeding.

"I could figuratively shut up, too," Percy says, half-laughing.

Annabeth looks down at him with nothing short of exasperation. "I will kick you."

Percy beams up at her serenely, and Annabeth latches onto the next bar. She's two-thirds of the way there, and Percy believes in her. "I believe in you," he says out loud.

"Thanks, that's incredibly helpful right now," Annabeth huffs, glancing up at her hands like she's weighing her options. "This should not be as hard as it is."

"You're cu—funny. When you're frustrated." Percy sounds like an idiot. Annabeth seems to agree, because she chuckles and shakes her head at him.

"Nice save," she says wryly.

Percy blushes. He feels hot all over. "I wasn't going to say _that_," he lies.

"Right," Annabeth mutters. "What was it then? Am I cucumber when I'm frustrated?"

"Yes," Percy responds, or, rather, blurts. He's _such_ an idiot. "Very," he tacks on, mouth dry. He feels like he just swallowed a whole bag of cotton.

Annabeth loses her grip on the bar, and Percy reacts before he can think about how stupid it is. It's barely a _foot_'s fall; Annabeth would have landed safe and sound on her feet, and Percy wouldn't have ended up with her jaw barely an inch away from his mouth, one elbow hitting his shoulder _hard_.

"Ouch," he says. His lips hit her skin when he speaks, and Percy tries to swallow the lump in his throat.

"_God_," Annabeth mutters, admitting defeat and dropping her other arm down to rest on his other shoulder. Thankfully, it's a little less bony and deathly.

They both fall quiet for a second, and Percy just closes his eyes since it's better than opening them and seeing nothing but Annabeth's blonde curls. "Sorry," he says against her jaw, still clutching her tight to his chest. He could put her down—_should_ put her down, but he can't force his limbs to cooperate with his brain.

"You just potentially saved me from spraining an ankle and you say 'sorry,'" Annabeth says disbelievingly. Percy can _feel_ her jaw move as she talks, and if that isn't the absolute definition of torture, he's not sure what is. "Honestly, who _are_ you?"

Percy laughs quietly, loosening his grip slowly until she can reach the ground, gaining her footing. Annabeth's elbows stay propped up on his shoulders, hands absently sliding into his hair, and Percy could probably die happy. He's so busy trying to catalog every place he and Annabeth are touching that he just barely remembers that she asked a question—one that definitely doesn't call for an answer, but one he answers anyways. "I'm Percy," he says, stupidly.

Annabeth uses his hair to guide him back a little, and Percy doesn't open his eyes. He's enjoying the way he feels, for now—appreciating the way Annabeth's hands feel when she tugs at his hair gently, trying to memorize the bumps of her spine he takes the time to run his knuckles over. Annabeth's _close_ is the thing, and she might not be this way again, and Percy doesn't want to leave a blank space in his mind where he could have this memory.

When he does open his eyes, Annabeth's looking right at him. Like she was waiting for him to open his eyes, she speaks. "We could kiss right now."

Percy lets out a breath, one that comes out shakier than he planned, and he nods once. Annabeth's so _blatant_; so unapologetic and outspoken. Percy doesn't want to let her go, so he flattens his hand against the dip in her spine and nods again. "Yeah. Could."

Annabeth tucks her bottom lip into her mouth, slowly releasing it. Percy's dying a death that's certainly far from quick and painless. "Are we… Should we?"

"I don't know," Percy mutters, since his mind isn't functioning well enough to think up a better answer. Percy can't take his eyes off her; he's scared he'll miss something, and he doesn't want to forget this. "I don't…" He trails off, shaking his head.

"I need an answer," Annabeth says, and she sounds rushed; urgent. Percy can't pull air into his lungs quite the way he should be able to.

"I don't know," Percy repeats, firmly. He exhales sharply, and he feels heavy and light at the same time. "I just know that I want to."

She leans closer, pressing her forehead against his. Percy feels dizzy, and he fists his hand in her jacket in an attempt to ground himself. Everything would be fine, if he could just _breathe_. "Do something," Annabeth suggests, and Percy is comforted by the fact that she isn't cool, calm, unaffected Annabeth Chase right now. Her words don't come out even, and her breaths aren't a normal pace.

"_You_ do something," Percy argues. Even if Annabeth's pressed up against him, hands buried in his hair—and he'd really only have to tilt his chin down the slightest bit to slot their lips together—he's still scared she'll push him off. Actually getting this; actually knowing what Annabeth's skin feels like; actually hearing her breathlessly tell him to _do something_—this wasn't ever in the realm of possibility as far as he knew.

"I'm _nervous_," Annabeth whispers, but she's laughing. Percy smiles at the sound, and the tense air surrounding them loosens up a little, letting him access oxygen he's used to. She presses her forehead harder against his before she says "I'm trying to push the responsibility off on you."

"I don't want it!" Percy replies, and they both laugh. Annabeth tips her head back, and Percy thinks _no, come back_ even if it's only added an inch or two of space. "Okay."

"Okay," Annabeth echoes, clearly humored. "This is so stupid." She leans back into him, and their noses bump. Percy takes a moment to eskimo kiss her, half because Annabeth's nose is cute and deserves it, and half because he's _always_ wanted to do that. It feels just as sweet and adorable as he thought it would. He can feel her smile, even if his eyes are shut. "Did you just…?"

"Yeah, sorry," Percy says quietly, and his stomach ties itself in knots when her lips touch the corner of his mouth. He tilts his head so he can kiss her properly, warmth spreading through his chest. Annabeth's lips are soft, just a little chapped from the cold air, and her hands are tugging him closer and closer by his hair.

Percy pulls back and releases a sigh. "Good?"

"Great," Annabeth replies. "Why did you stop?"

"Wanted to make sure," Percy mutters, and it sounds foolish. He's mostly too in love to care. "Can I…?"

"Yeah, of course, anything," she answers, all in one breath, leaning in and kissing him hard. "Within reason," she adds.

Percy smiles when he kisses her again, and Annabeth brings her elbows off his shoulders to skim her hands down his sides. He feels like he's in the ocean, and huge waves keep crashing into him before he can properly catch his breath. Annabeth isn't much help, either, making him gasp into her mouth when she barely scratches over his collarbone; pulling his bottom lip into her mouth with her teeth in a way that makes his knees go weak. Percy would've never looked at Annabeth Chase and think she'd kiss like this.

When she slips a hand under his hoodie, fingertips hinting at his ribcage, Percy closes his eyes tight and taps her back twice. Annabeth seems to understand, since she removes her hand immediately and reaches up to hold his face. "Sorry," he says. "I—sorry. Needed to quit for a second."

"Everything okay?" Annabeth asks, and when Percy opens his eyes, she's scanning his face worriedly, like she's actually done something _wrong_, like Percy doesn't love every second her hands are touching his skin.

"It's perfect," he tells her quietly, kissing the corner of her mouth sweetly. "I just don't want to do too much."

Annabeth nods, glancing away and making a little face like she's embarrassed. Percy reaches a hand up and touches his thumb where her dimples would be, if she were smiling. "I'm sorry."

"You're fine," Percy says, giving her his best smile to show he means it. She returns it slowly. "I guess 'want' wasn't the right word; you _know_ I want to, I just don't want us to think back on it later and which we'd gone slower. If that makes sense?"

"Since when are you the logical one?" Annabeth complains, burying her face in his shoulder. She kisses his collarbone quickly, and Percy gives a little grunt that's half a warning and half an encouragement.

"Don't," he tells her, but he's laughing when he says it, so it loses all it's sternness. "Kiss me up here." He lifts the shoulder she's resting on, and Annabeth's smiling when she kisses his cheek. He nods in approval, finally taking his eyes off Annabeth while he glances around. "It got dark."

"Time flies," Annabeth says airily, looking around herself. Percy hugs her close, just because he knows they're both about to leave, and he's too scared to ask what it all means. Annabeth doesn't really seem like the type to act like a kiss—or, he supposes, a series of hot and heavy kisses—didn't happen, but she doesn't seem like the type to acknowledge it immediately ever. And he doesn't want to be that person that ask for a label on a relationship before either party's had their chance to think it through. After all, it could have just been the late hour or the closeness that tipped the scale.

Percy just knows what he wants. And that's Annabeth, plainly, in whatever way she decides—friends or lovers, he'd live with one and be overjoyed by the other, but he won't let his hopes sway Annabeth's. "Should go," Percy mentions lowly; reluctantly. Now that he's held her, he doesn't want to spend much time not doing so.

"Yeah," Annabeth says, sounding as unwilling as he does. She steps back, and Percy's arms fall to his sides, like they aren't sure what to do with themselves if they aren't holding Annabeth. Which—that's _ridiculous_, Percy thinks, because he got by just fine before he got to kiss her, and he can survive the aftermath. "Walk me to my car."

She's so _bossy_, and Percy hates the fact that he's actually into it; hates how it's far up on the list of things he loves about Annabeth. He steps into place beside her, and spends an insubordinate amount of time questioning whether or not he should grab her hand. In the end, he argues with himself that the walk isn't even that long, and it'd be pointless. Since his limbs have been known to take minds of their own, Percy shoves his hands into his hoodie pockets just to be safe.

Annabeth swings open her car door, but doesn't step inside her car. Percy stares at her for a second, and it's almost hard to believe that someone like Annabeth could be into someone like him. He feels so sub-par; feels like he's such a step down from Annabeth's typical confidence and her bright laughs and intimidating eyes. He knows he's not, not really, and it's all just a matter of perception (or at least that's what Axe tells him when Percy lets his self-esteem get the better of him), but Percy can't help but be a little awed.

"Kiss me goodnight," Annabeth demands, small little smirk hinting at her lips. Percy wants to kiss her, and he does.

"I'll see you," he promises, glancing from her lips to her eyes. "Soon."

"Monday?"

"It's Friday," Percy informs her, like Annabeth isn't aware of the day of the week.

"I know," Annabeth replies, raising an eyebrow. "I just thought you'd want more… Time. To think about it."

"Think about it?"

"Like"—Annabeth wrings her hands together, uncharacteristically fidgety—"about us. And all that."

"Of course I want to think about it," Percy tells her, smiling softly. "But I can also think while hanging out with you. Or doing economics homework. We don't have to, like, keep away from each other or anything. I like being around you."

"Me too." Her eyes are crinkling at the sides, and Percy takes a deep, deep breath, because he's a pretty strong-willed guy and he doesn't _have_ to kiss the corners of her eyes, no matter how much his brain is saying yes. "Tomorrow?"

"That sounds nice," Percy says, nodding a few times as he taps one of Annabeth's dimples with his index finger. "Don't want to leave, now."

"You're the one who tapped out," she tells him brattily, but kisses him quickly to show she doesn't mean it. She shoves him backwards, albeit gently and probably half-heartedly. "Get out of here."

"I'm going, I'm going!" Percy holds his hands up as a white flag, but he ducks in one last time to kiss her. She kisses him back and pushes him away at the same time, and Percy laughs when she groans, like he's the most annoying thing she's ever happened upon. "I'm really leaving," he tells her, catching one of her hands in his. They're still soft, and they're _small_, too, which makes Percy's heart clench a little. "I'm honestly going."

"I can tell," Annabeth deadpans, reluctantly pulling her hand out of his grasp and getting into her car. "Goodnight, Percy."

He smiles, crossing one arm over his chest and waving with the other. "Night, Annabeth."

She closes her car door and pulls away, and Percy watches her brakelights until she takes a turn and they disappear from view. He takes a moment to text Axe a vague emoji string that consists of a thumbs up, a smiling face, and a green heart. Axe'll have to read between the lines. Or between the tiny images. Whatever.

Annabeth texts him to let him know that she got home safe, something she'd started doing a while ago even if he never had the guts to ask. He reads the text three times, even if it just says _I'm home, see you tomorrow_, and falls asleep with his phone on his chest.

;;

Annabeth comes over the next day, as promised, thankfully after Percy's dragged himself out of bed and managed to look somewhat presentable. She doesn't seem to mind much, if the sweet kiss she gives him when he opens the door is anything to go by. She follows that up with a bashful smile, pats his chest, and walks right past him. He shuts the door.

He can hear her chatting amicably in the kitchen with his mother, preparing a cake for the woman next door who has a birthday coming up soon. Percy doesn't throw the word 'saint' around, but if anyone comes close, it's his mom.

They lounge around the kitchen while his mom puts on the finishing touches, icing with practiced ease and raising the butterknife threateningly at Percy when he looms over her shoulder. "I know how interested you are in dessert, but this is for Ms. Anne."

"Ms. Anne gets tons of cakes," Percy says, though he backs off after his mom passes him the mostly empty bowl of chocolate batter. He hip bumps Annabeth out of the way to get access to the silverware drawer. "I get, like, two a year. My birthday and your birthday."

"You'd get more cakes if you helped bake them," Sally tells him.

Percy scowls, using a spoon to scoop some of the batter up. "That's not the answer I wanted."

Annabeth laughs at this, and Percy smiles at her before he shoves the spoon in his mouth, passing the bowl off to her. She gives it a cautious look. "Isn't there raw eggs in this?"

"Who cares?" Percy says, though he's not sure if she understands with the spoon still in his mouth. He takes it out. "Not enough to kill us, even if there is."

"It's dangerous." Annabeth returns the bowl, but seems unperturbed as he takes care of it on his own.

He leans against the counter beside her and nudges her side. "When's your birthday?"

"Soon," Annabeth vaguely replies. "When's yours?"

"How soon? I was hoping to get in on another cake," Percy says jokingly, but tries to look serious, too. Annabeth's birthday is a thing he wants to know. "August 18th."

"February 3rd," she answers, measured. "And I haven't celebrated my birthday for three years, so don't even think about it."

"_What_?" Percy cries, shooting his mother a distressed look. He abandons his bowl of cake batter and crosses his arms to express how outraged he is. "That's awful. We have to make three cakes to make up for it."

Sally and Annabeth both laugh, but the latter seems a little embarrassed. He presses his fingertips against her upper arm and leaves them there. "I mean, there was no real celebration. I got a car the year before the last; books last year. Parties celebrating me feel weird."

"That'd be my favorite kind of party," Percy mentions idly. "I'd plan, attend, and stay for the after party while I thought about next year's."

Annabeth smiles up at him like she's about to laugh, but won't let herself. It's a good look on her, no matter how much he'd like to hear her laugh. "You're ridiculous. Who has after parties for a party?"

"Me, when I'm having an Annabeth Party," Percy declares, making a little face. "Don't point out my illogisticalness."

"Illogicalness," Annabeth corrects boredly. Percy wants to kiss her, and he has every intent to—except, his mom chooses that moment to clear her throat, announcing that the cake's all done and she's heading over to say hi to Ms. Anne. She doesn't even bother inviting them.

"I think we just ran her off," Percy says, feeling a little nervous. He's _alone_ with Annabeth, and she's about a half-centimeter away from him. "Oops."

"Have you thought about yesterday?" Annabeth has this thing about her, something that Percy's both admired and abhorred since the day he met her—she's straight-forward in a way that he's not even sure how to respond to, most of the time. She's giving him this look, like he should know all the answers, and Percy wants to throw his hands up and confess that he has a C-average in all of his classes, except for economics, where he's scoring a high B.

"Might've for a second or two." Percy doesn't expect to sound all that convincing, and, predictably, his voice is quiet with a tinge of nerves. Not too far off from how he's feeling, actually.

"Just a second or two," Annabeth responds, staring at him with this weirdly blank look on her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That…" Percy pauses. He could choose the humor route, which involves a very smooth deflection of the question, or he could just tell her what he's skirting around. He probably would have picked the first, if Annabeth hadn't leaned close to him, making the decision for him. "Means that there was about a second or two that I wasn't thinking about it, probably," he mutters, sniffing. The whole room smells like cake—cake that he _won't_ be eating, which is just disappointing—but he's getting a hint of lemons, too, and he knows that's Annabeth. "That sounds stupid," he adds.

"Yeah, but I'm used to that," Annabeth says, rolling her eyes. Percy is hopeless, probably, when he gets to the point that every little thing she does makes him smile. "I thought about it, too."

"Never been kissed in a kitchen." He tries to keep his stance casual, but—well, he's _himself_, so that never goes well.

"Really," Annabeth says drily, but she cracks a smile.

Percy stares down at his feet. "We _could _kiss right now."

"Ugh, please. We aren't going to be those people that have one of those _stupid_, romantic repeated phrases—that's _so_ cliche, Percy." Annabeth gives him a distasteful look, but her eyes are saying she isn't that annoyed.

"You said it," he points out, sending her a look.

"Probably because you would have never done it if I wouldn't have," she shoots back, sending him a look of the same breed. Percy just stares at her until she moves to stand in front of him, reaching out her hands until they touch his chest. He reaches up to hold both of them, just because Annabeth's hands are the kind that beg to be held. He must look smug, since Annabeth scoffs and says, "Don't look so pleased that you got your way."

"You always looked pleased when you get yours," he tries to argue, but the feigned irritation melts right away when she intertwines their fingers, swaying closer to him. A wispy curl falls out of her loose ponytail in the process, and Percy watches Annabeth give her best attempt to get it out of her face without using her hand. Eventually, she sheepishly drops his hand and tucks the hair back into her ponytail. "I'm really glad my hair isn't that long. Seems like work."

"Believe me when I say it is," Annabeth says under her breath. "I'd be fine if it weren't curly, too."

"I like them," Percy tells her, resisting the urge to reach out and tug one. He learned that lesson the hard way. He pulls her a little closer instead, until her free hand falls to rest over his collarbone, like instinct. Percy wants to hug Annabeth, so he does.

And, Percy will freely admit, it feels nice to have Annabeth close without feeling stupidly nervous over whether or not he's an alright kisser, or whether or not he's allowed to put his hands here or there, or whether or not she'll get annoyed when he doesn't want to rush things. It feels nice to just be with each other, for a moment.

As most things do, that moment passes. Mostly because Annabeth's fingertips start tapping against his collarbone in time with his heartbeat—he doesn't even want to think about her actually listening to it, since the thought is so sweet he'd probably just confess his immoderate love right then and there—and she presses this _terrible_ phantom kiss to his jaw.

Percy looks up at the ceiling, wondering if anyone would shout back at him if he silently asked _why me?!_ He decides that they won't, and apparently Annabeth decides it's time to press a real kiss to his jaw, this time closer to his chin. Percy lets out a half-laugh, half-groan and leans out of her reach.

"What?" Annabeth asks, smirking at him. "Did you like that, or something?"

"It's like it's your job to embarrass me," Percy responds, feeling that customary blush starting at his chest start creeping up. His neck's probably bright red before he finishes his sentence.

"Are you offering a full-time position? I'd like to apply."

Percy gives her an exasperated look, but he's kind of smiling too, so it loses it's effect. Annabeth finally presses a kiss to his lips, and Percy has to force his grin down to return it properly.

Percy thinks he could get used to this. Come to think of it, he could get used to a lot of things, like the way Annabeth isn't shy about pulling his hair gently, or the way she laughs against his lips when he reaches up to hold on tight to her upper arm, or the way she fidgets with the collar of his shirt. Yes, those are very much things Percy could jump on board with and never look back.

Percy pulls away first, not-so-coincidentally a second after her nails dig into his collarbone the slightest bit. He pauses, narrowing his eyes at Annabeth. She stares back innocently, petting at the stretched collar of his shirt. "Can I help you?" she questions, leaning down and planting a kiss on the fabric over his collarbone.

He idly touches her jaw, pausing to think for a second. He's all about casual kisses; don't mind him in the slightest. "Nope. I'm all good right here."

Annabeth gives him a look that's some sort of twist between a smile and a frown. "_Percy_," she admonishes. "Stop being nice. You'll make me feel mean."

"I like it when you're mean, a little. I mean I'm sure I'd reach a point where I'd actually get mad, but I haven't so far." He shrugs, unconcerned, because they'll cross that bridge when they come to it. "Plus, I can have an attitude sometimes too."

"Even your worst attitude is still somewhat nice," Annabeth grumbles, patting down his arms until she happens upon his hands. He glances down at them, and he finds himself enjoying the contrast between them; small and large, dainty and bony. Annabeth always has some signs that she's been working away at something, whether it's a small spot of paint, or a smattering of ink across her fingertips, or a grey tint to the side of her palm from dragging her hand across the paper while she wrote in pencil. "So..."

"Yes, that's always a good topic," Percy says, nodding seriously. "One of my favorites."

"Shut up," Annabeth manages through the grin she's making valiant attempts to bite back. Percy appreciates her endurance, if nothing else. She, he's noticed, tends to laugh at him when he isn't being all that funny and refuses to laugh when he's actually made a joke. "What are we doing?"

The question seems to be addressing more than just their current position, but Percy tackles the easiest answer first. "Well, we're in a kitchen," he says slowly. "Holding hands." He swings them a little for emphasis, and her eyes flicker down to watch before she looks up at him, a hint of apprehension on her face. "And... we're taking it slow. I think. I want?"

Annabeth raises an eyebrow. "Is that a question?"

"Sort of. I want to know if you agree. If it's okay with you, that's what I want to do." He raises his eyebrows expectantly.

"So we're not dating?" She doesn't look disappointed or relieved, and Percy can't tell if he's saying the right thing.

He decides to tell the truth and see where it gets him. "Uh..." Percy clears his throat and runs one foot over the other. "Maybe not in so many words? But we aren't dating other people. I hope."

"Casually exclusive," Annabeth suggests, and Percy makes a sound that hopefully expresses his agreement. "That... Sounds nice, actually."

He smiles, bringing up their joined hands to press at the side of her face. She gives him a weird look, and Percy can't really explain himself—he'd wanted to touch her cheek, preferably where that dimple (also known as the death of him) tends to pop up, but he didn't want to let go of either of her hands. He did his best to find a nice compromise.

"How long do you think your mom'll be gone?" Annabeth asks after a second, curiously.

"Probably"—there's a small racket at the door swings open, and Percy tips his head back in annoyance—"too soon," he finishes, whining a little.

Annabeth rolls her eyes and manages to work in a millisecond of a kiss before Sally walks in. Percy smooths down his wrinkled shirt-pointlessly, and probably just making himself look more suspicious. "Did Ms. Anne like the cake?" Annabeth asks politely. She presses her elbow closer to his, and Percy revels in the skin-on-skin contact. Annabeth's always warm. "She was very happy," Sally returns, and not without a maternal smile in Annabeth's direction. Percy's heart swells a little at the sight of that. "Did you two behave yourselves?"

"Absolutely not," Annabeth answers in a way that definitely comes off as a joke, but she nudges his foot with her own. He hides a smile in his shoulder. "We caused all kinds of trouble."

;;

"So you're dating," Axe declares, nodding to himself.

"No, for the _third_ time, we're casually exclusive," Percy says, a hint of frustration peeking through.

"Casually exclusive… In other words, you know, _dating_." Axe takes a pull off his smoothie, sending a glance over his shoulder. Kay and Annabeth are leaning over some petition Reyna brought to Rosie's in hopes that they'd all offer a signature.

"It's casually exclusive," Percy repeats. _Again_. "We agreed. Don't want to label it as dating, just yet."

"God," Axe mutters under his breath. "It's like watching two middle schooler's fumble around like they aren't sure what a crush is."

Percy raises an eyebrow, taking Axe's smoothie and taking a cautious sip. It tastes awful; like pineapple and something else that's weirdly gritty. He passes it back with a sour face, and Axe gives him a look that says _serves you right_. "Have you been to a middle school lately? They're fumbling with bras and belts, my friend."

"Times have changed," Axe says with a disappointed sigh, like he wasn't at a middle school just a few years prior. He sips on his smoothie, staring at Kay with some weird non-blinking gaze of love. Percy's not sure what's up with that, but he doesn't interrupt his friend and his creepy staring. "Kay and I were talking about getting matching streaks."

Percy's noticed that, lately, a lot of Axe's sentences start with 'Kay and I.' It's mostly sickening and somewhat annoying, but Percy deals because Axe is perpetually happy and glowing. "Really? That'd be cool, I think."

"Yeah, that's what Kay said," Axe says, pulling his eyes off her and looking at Percy. "Would it be weird?"

"I mean, Christmas is coming up soon," Percy mentions. "You guys going to do some candy cane pattern thing?"

"No, she wants purple. But that'd be _sick_, the candy cane stripes. I'm doing that next year."

Percy was mostly kidding, but Axe actually seems excited, so he keeps it to himself. Let the man be passionate about what he wants. "Here's your milkshakes," the employee says off to their side, sliding them over the counter. Percy sends him a friendly grin and scoops them up, walking back to the table.

Reyna's taking a deep breath, surely to re-address the issue at hand, so Percy hands Annabeth her strawberry milkshake silently. "Thanks, Perce," she says comfortably, taking a sip. She slides a notebook out of her backpack, clicking her pen a few times. He hooks his chin over her shoulder and frowns down at her homework. "Don't look that way," she orders, lifting her shoulder in an attempt to shrug him off. He doesn't move an inch. "It's just some weekend stuff."

"But it's _Friday_."

"Yes, which is precisely why I'd like to finish it now so I don't worry about it later." She shrugs smally again, and Percy relents, pressing his nose to her cheek in some weird show of affection before he pulls back. "I'll let you know when I'm done."

"You mean you'll let me know when you're finished being a nerd," Percy grumbles moodily. Annabeth sighs loudly. "Sorry. You're not really a nerd."

"Can you insult someone without apologizing two seconds later?" Annabeth questions, flipping through her notes until she reaches the page she was looking for.

Percy's about to tell her that _yes_, he absolutely can, it'll just take him some time to think of an instance, but Nico bursts into laughter before he can get a word out.

Every single person at the table turns to him. It's not like Nico never laughs, because he does—and, Percy is proud to say, it's usually due to him—but it's still shocking nonetheless. He keeps laughing despite everyone's amused and worried faces, then he just gestures vaguely and says, "It was a funny Vine, sorry. Fuck."

Annabeth exchanges a bewildered look with Axe, and then with Percy. Kelsi reaches across the table, making grabby hands at Nico's phone to see whatever video made him laugh so hard, and before long their whole table's red-faced and causing a ruckus.

Annabeth leans over to press a laugh into his shoulder, and he wraps an arm around her instinctively. He loves his friends more than life itself.

The weirdest part is, only Axe and Kay really know about his and Annabeth's not-dating-but-not-dating-anyone-else-either situation, and not a single one of his other friends have even asked. He's not sure if it's because they respect their privacy (which, okay maybe most of them do, but Leo would have already—and loudly, no doubt—asked if he were curious) or if it's because they haven't paid enough attention (it's not like he hasn't been more or less _hanging_ off of Annabeth for the past week, and she's been no less subtle if you asked him). The thing is, he kind of wants someone to ask. He wants to smile and say _yeah, me and Annabeth_.

She peers up at him from where she's leaning on his shoulder, and Percy snaps out of his thoughts to return her stare. "Giving up on homework?"

"I can do it later," she replies with a shrug, but follows it up with an eye roll. "Though, that's probably just the part of me that's slowly turning into you talking."

Percy smiles, and he wants to kiss her. He's still not sure about the guidelines for 'casually exclusive,' so he decides against it. "If it helps, I finished all of my homework in class, even when the teacher told us we were allowed to talk."

"Really?" Annabeth looks pleasantly surprised, and Percy nods twice. She leans closer and kisses him, quickly and softly, leaning back and smiling at him for a brief moment before she turns, packing up her bag—probably to save herself the trouble later. Percy just watches her, since it seems more interesting that seeing whatever Vine Nico's spreading around their table now.

It takes Percy probably a full minute to realize everyone's gone silent, and even then, he only notices because Jason whispers, not all that well, "Wait, _what_?" and Axe whisper-yells back and "Shut up!" and Kay tells him to "Be kind."

Percy looks at Jason first, then at Axe and Kay, who are looking at each other. _Typical_, Percy thinks.

"So," Leo says, clearing his throat. "That's happening?"

"What's happening?" Annabeth asks, glancing around like she missed something.

"I think us?" Percy says. She sends him a weird look, like he's just appeared out of thin air. "You… A second ago."

"Oh," Annabeth says in realization. "That."

Axe sounds like he might be laughing, but he can't hear it over Jason's offended cry of, "How long has this been happening? Me and Leo were still placing bets!"

"We have no obligation to tell you guys," Annabeth reminds them, but she doesn't seem all that bothered. "No one asked."

"You guys are a very cute couple," Hazel says, smiling proudly at them. "How long have you been together?"

Percy and Annabeth share a look. "A week-ish?"

Leo gasps, giving Axe a disbelieving look. "You _knew_!"

Axe, for his part, rolls his eyes. "Of course I did. And that's why I'm twenty dollars richer."

Jason slumps in his seat, and Leo gives Axe an untrusting glare. Annabeth's leaning over to ask Axe what the bet was, laughing at the pair's dismay, and Reyna gives the rest of the group a considering look before she turns to Percy and asks the question he's been wanting someone to ask for the past week. "So, you and Annabeth?"

He beams. "Yeah, me and Annabeth."

;;

Being casually exclusive with Annabeth, Percy learns, isn't all that different from how he thinks dating her would be. She comes over about as much as she did before, just most of the time without the pretense of actually getting work done, sometimes holds his hand while they watch their pick of the day, and continues to tease him relentlessly about anything and everything. And there's definitely some kissing sprinkled in there, too. A rather lot, now that Percy reflects on it.

There's also one small not-quite-argument about jealousy (Percy's fault) and one embarrassing incident with his mom (Annabeth's fault) and two meals that they burned after getting distracted (Percy would argue that it's Annabeth's fault, but it's not like he was telling her _not_ to kiss him).

They tell Percy's mom about ten days after their first kiss, and while she doesn't seem all that surprised, she does say she's happy for both of them. Percy meets Annabeth's mom two days after that, and while the woman is severe and somewhat cold, he has to admit there's something regal about her—similar to the vibe Annabeth gives off, just in a larger dosage. She's polite throughout the albeit brief meeting, not kind nor unkind, but mostly seems like she's sizing him up. It's reminiscent of the way Annabeth looked at him as soon as she was assigned the seat to his left sophomore year in chemistry.

As soon as they exit Annabeth's house, off to meet the rest of the group at whatever gig Axe's picked up this time, Annabeth apologizes for her mother. Percy tells her she's ridiculous and doesn't leave her side for the rest of the night.

Percy realizes pretty soon that it's no easy fall with Annabeth Chase. It's sort of like he was tumbling through the air for a while, with every intention of sticking the landing, and ended up colliding with a tree. And now he can't avoid hitting other branches on his way to the cold, hard ground where he'll probably end up with a bruise or two (and, regrettably, not the kind he recently discovered Annabeth likes to give him on his jaw). It's totally, doubtlessly worth it. That might be the scariest part.

There are days where Percy and Annabeth do actually vow to do their work. Usually Percy sprawls out on the floor and Annabeth sits criss-cross on the couch, since she can't stand the way he always has some form of restless jitters when he does homework. Percy likes it well enough just being in her space, soaking up the good vibes and getting confidence injected into his veins when she sees it fit to offer an unbidden motivational speech with Percy serving as the only audience member. She also helps him out when he gets stuck on a particularly impossible math problem, and, well, he learned a long time ago that Annabeth likes teaching people things.

Being as lucky as he is, he's learned how Annabeth likes to be kissed (it depends on her mood, but she usually goes for playful) and when she likes her hand to be held (primarily on car rides, but she won't say no to any other time). He's also learned other things, like the fact that she has a lot of thoughts and emotions brought on by her parent's divorce that she's still working through, and, much to Percy's amazement, she can recite soliloquies from Shakespeare on command.

It's two weeks, then three weeks, then it's a month. Percy wants to knock on time's door and ask it to give him a few hours to breathe.

_College isn't too far away_, his mom reminds him, since she'd breached the topic unassumingly at the dinner table, and Percy had decided that he'd like to go. _I gave them my demo, they're calling later this week_, Axe enthuses, all bright eyes and full of hope. _I got an academic scholarship_, Annabeth tells him casually, and Percy's lungs stop working when she says the college is across the country.

It's almost sad, when he looks back on it—the hours he spent wasting time; tossing it away thoughtlessly as he chose to lie around the house rather than going out with friends, shrugging a shoulder as he avoided homework and chose a more appealing activity. The only thing he has to show for four years at high school is a GPA that'll get him into a community college best-case scenario, a few trophies for swimming, and friends that are soon off to different corners of the world to pursue different dreams. If Percy's lucky, he'll be able to scoop up some grant or small scholarship for swimming.

And the thing is, if he just had more _time_, just a few more hours to every day, he'd be able to work it all out. He'd give anything to rewind a few years and do it all over, this time without tardiness or undone homework or failed tests.

His grades are picking up, since Annabeth refuses to give into his valiant attempts at distracting her when she comes over to do her homework. But it's not enough, is the problem—having great grades the last semester of high school is nothing to show for three and a half school years full of Cs and Ds. He sleeps less and worries more, and Axe chastises him almost as much as his mother for it.

"I'm not going anywhere," Percy says one day, untwisting the cap off his bottle of apple juice before he twists it back on. Annabeth's absent today, off on some AP field trip with Jason and Reyna at her side, and in some ways he's glad. Her life's finally taken a turn for the better, with endless letters from colleges who want her, a finalized settlement that allows her to live with her dad full-time, and even more success academically, if possible. He doesn't want to dampen her spirits, especially when this is the highest they've been out of all the time he's known her.

"You are, Percy," Axe replies confidently, reaching over to grip his best friend's shoulder. "You decided to go to college, right? Greek studies?"

"And Roman," he adds needlessly. "But what can I even _do_ with that degree?"

"Teach. Work at a museum with a Greek and Roman exhibit. You could even help out with the younger groups, like, the kids that come in. You love kids."

Percy nods slowly, but his arms don't move from where they're crossed over his chest. "I just feel behind compared to everyone else."

"You're getting there," Axe says, supportive as ever. "That's fine. Not everyone works on the same schedule, you know. And if all else fails, you can just jump on tour and be my merch guy."

Percy cracks a little smile at that. "Percy the Merch Guy."

Axe lifts his eyebrows as if to say '_told you so_.' "Catchy, isn't it?" He tosses an arm over Percy's shoulder, walking them down the hallway. "Don't stress out, dude. Apply for college when it's time; worry about a career when it comes to it. And keep giving your all this season; you know there's scouts at some matches."

"What if, like, years from now I realize that I was studying the wrong thing and I actually want to do something else?" Percy frets. Just thinking about being _wrong_ causes a wave of anxiety. "And even if I _do_ get scholarship offers, you have to keep a certain GPA, right?"

"Well, look at it this way: I'll be a big time rockstar by then, and my bank account will be hitting the millions. I'll spot you some cash for going back to college." Axe claps him on the back, sending him a small, genuine smile. Percy doesn't think he could ask for a better best friend. "And even if I'm not a huge rockstar, we'll just become a duo. Then we'll get famous."

"I'm a shitty musician," Percy mutters, but he's grinning a little. Axe, despite his own issues that never stop weighing down on him, refuses to let Percy get down and out about whatever worries he may have. "No one would come to our shows."

"Good point, looks like both of our futures are screwed and we're going nowhere in life; destined to be 30 year-old jobless losers still living with our parents," Axe says flatly, sending him a sidelong glance. "Debbie Downer. Let me cheer you up. Either that or stop crying, you big baby."

It's teasing, Percy knows, and Axe always resorts to tough love when Percy doesn't respond to gentle consoling. "Thanks," he says, after a second, nodding to himself. And, surprisingly, he feels universes better. He can apply to the local community college on time, and start looking around for the odd job, even if it actually is being Axe's merch guy. Life's not nearly as terrifying as Percy tends to convince himself. "Really, thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome." Axe waves him off nonchalantly, like he isn't one of the most important people in his life, never letting Percy sell himself short. "Thank me later, when you're some superstar swimmer with a million gold medals and a degree in Greek and Roman Studies."

;;

Regardless of all the unanswered questions looming over Percy as the school year draws closer and closer to a finish, there's three things that keep him sane; the first being his mother, the second being his friends, and the third being Annabeth—who helps him apply for college and shows him dozens of scholarship and grant opportunities he wasn't even aware of.

Apparently, he gets a grant for being of Greek descent, one for being dyslexic and another for being the child of a single parent. Annabeth's a miracle worker, and Percy doesn't have a single clue how to repay her for how much she's helped, but he starts out with a pretty enthusiastic kiss. He thinks it tells her what he doesn't have the guts to voice. The way she reaches up to cradle his jaw gives him the feeling that she reads him, loud and clear.

"Glad that I have you," Percy'll say with his forehead pressed to hers, after he's been robbed of his breath and brain-to-mouth filter. He can't even think of a time when kissing someone was _this_ much fun—though, to be fair, he's kissed exactly four girls and didn't fall for them quite as hard as he did for Annabeth. He opens his eyes and shifts back, lifting up a hand to touch his thumb to her cheekbone. If he doesn't already love her, he's well on his way.

"I'm not so glad that you still speak in sentence fragments," Annabeth mutters, sounding much less put-off than she means to, probably. Any smidgen of annoyance that might have been in her voice is cancelled out when she surges forward to kiss him again, hand curling around his bicep. She stays close when she says "I'm glad that I have you, too."

Percy files that away, keeping it in that small part of his mind that's actually organized. It feels like one of those moments that'll matter; one of those things he'll look back on years from now and say 'that, that was good'—a moment that'll sit nicely right beside late night talks with Axe and every _I'm proud of you_ from his mom.

There's a lot of things he hasn't worked out, and there's so much to anticipate and stress over in the months to come, but Annabeth helps quiet his mind in a way that Percy's never known as a possibility. She kisses him once, then twice, and Percy lets her, returning them both gently.

She buries her face in his shoulder, hugging him tightly, and Percy wraps his arms around her in reciprocation, holding her close while he pauses to think. In the past few months, he's pretty sure that he's thought about his future more than he has in his entire high school career. He's worried, to say the least, worried that Axe might be off to wherever being a rockstar might take him; worried that Annabeth'll rush off to whatever school she takes up on their offer; worried that he'll be left behind unintentionally.

Annabeth, almost idly, presses her lips against his pulse point. Percy likes to think that maybe she could feel she shift in his mood, but the more probable truth was that Annabeth felt like kissing him. She's been known to be rather headstrong and merciless when it came to her decisions, especially regarding the ones pertaining to Percy and his evident weakness for Annabeth's lips.

"Hey," he cautions lowly, and he's not even sure that he wants to take heed to his own warnings anymore. "Don't start."

Annabeth huffs loudly, but respects his wishes and pulls back, hooking a finger in the collar of his shirt. He leans forward where she leads him, and Annabeth gives him a smirk that looks like she believes she's already won. "Percy," she says, like she needs to make it clear that she's addressing him. "Tell me the chances of getting you out of your shirt within the next half hour. _Just_ your shirt, don't look at me like that."

He laughs at her tone, catching her lips in a quick kiss. "It's nothing special, you know."

"Swimmer's build," Annabeth reminds him, like he's forgotten.

"Still not that special," Percy mutters. He can't even be bothered to move an inch away from her, noses bumping and lips brushing here and there. He's thinking about the fact that he could love her so, _so_ easily when Annabeth's hand dips below his collar, running over the bones there. Percy's mind is made for him. "I'd say a solid eighty per cent," he mentions, after a few moments. "Maybe eight-five."

Annabeth gives a content hum, and her laugh ends up falling out against his lips when he kisses her.

And even if Annabeth ends up across the country, attending some big time Ivy League school while he manages to maintain the required GPA for a swimming scholarship, this'll still be worth it. He won't ever stop wanting this—the kissing, sure, but all of Annabeth, too, all of her uncalled-for correcting of grammar, all of her smart remarks to match all of his witty comments, all of her frighteningly textbook-like answers to Percy's questions. Distance would be but a blip on Percy's radar of things to worry about.

"Stop thinking about things," Annabeth mutters, planting a kiss on the apple of his cheek, then his jaw, then his collarbone. Percy's eyes flutter shut.

He wants to say that it's just her and a bit of their future he's thinking about, but then Annabeth's hands are hinting at the hem of his shirt. Percy can't say he does much thinking at all, past that.

;;

Weeks feel like hours to Percy; months feel like days. To him, it seems like it was just yesterday that he and Axe were hopping out of his mom's rattling car, Percy looking up at the daunting, newly painted double doors of Mendler High as a freshman with below average height and a much cooler best friend on his right. And now, he's pushing on the faded out blue doors for what might be the last time, carrying a backpack full of the mess he had in his locker, Axe still by his side, offering up a tired little cheer as they exit.

"Finally," Axe mutters, hiking his bag further up his shoulder.

Percy shares the sentiment, but he also feels like he might miss the place a little—even if there were a few incidents he'd rather forget that happened in those halls, even if there were teachers there who treated him like he was an embarrassment to humanity. Maybe _miss_ is the wrong word, Percy thinks, casting one last glance over his shoulder. Maybe it's more like an acceptance that even bad times are still a part of his life, and it's weird to turn his back and say to himself _well, that's done_.

When he gets there, Annabeth's leaning against her car, parked right beside his. Axe gives both Percy and Annabeth firm hugs, offering them a smile and a promise that he'll see them soon before he heads to his own car.

He can feel Annabeth watching him while he tosses the bag carelessly into his trunk, feeling confident that he'll end up throwing away all of the disorganized binders and papers anyways. "You look confused," Annabeth says after a few seconds of Percy staring at the bag and not closing his trunk. "Is there some math problem in there or something?"

Percy rolls his eyes—a bad habit he'd been unlucky enough to pick up from Annabeth—and slams it shut with enough force to make sure it doesn't bounce back, like it's prone to do. "Just weird, isn't it? Being done?"

Annabeth lifts a shoulder, offering her hand to him. He catches it, intertwines their fingers, and stares for a moment. "Not for me. I'm just looking forward to college."

Percy nods, slowly, and wonders if that's what he should be doing, too. He got his acceptance letter from the local community college about a week ago, and not only that, but his coach asked him to come back the following school year and help out with swim team if he has the chance. "It feels weird to me."

"I think everyone looks at it differently. It's not a bad thing that you feel weird about it." She squeezes his hand like a reassurance that he's not crazy, and Percy appreciates it. Everyone else is so _glad_ to leave, or maybe a little panicked that life's hurtling toward them before they're prepared, but Percy just feels drained and nostalgic for times that weren't even that great. He hates endings. That's probably why he doesn't read much, come to think of it. "Come on, everyone's heading to Rosie's."

Percy looks up at Annabeth—the same Annabeth that'd seemed so unreachable in the tenth grade, and still feels the same way now, even if he's got her. He's kind of incredibly glad that Annabeth likes him as much as she does. He tells her so. "I'm glad you like me."

Annabeth gives him a vaguely startled look, like he's the weirdest person she's ever met. "It's hard not to like you," she returns with unexpected genuineness. Percy had expected a sarcastic retort to his candid statement, but it wouldn't be the first time she surprised him.

"I think I more than like you," Percy admits, after a moment of hesitation, running his free hand through his hair. He's not sure that he _loves_ her, not fully, but he knows he's coming up quickly on that. There's something about Annabeth—something that he wastes too much time trying to put into words when maybe the truth is that it just _is_. And that feeling that's been welling up in his chest in fits and starts since they got together months ago isn't getting any less overwhelming.

Annabeth just smiles at him for what might be a second or a year. Percy's never been good with time. "Alright," she answers, and Percy can't say that's the reply he wanted exactly, but she leans up to kiss him so fiercely that he finds it hard to care. Her hands press into his ribcage, holding both of them steady. "Now, if you're done, let's go to Rosie's."

And that's Annabeth, he guesses—managing to sound annoyed even after the object of her affections implies that they're falling hard. The look that follows her comment is soft and, Percy thinks, loving. It's a little easier to get into his car after that; a little easier to drive away from a place he feels emotionally attached to, despite the frustration and anger and self-doubt that reached all new heights in his years spent there.

As he and Annabeth leave, he glances in his rear view a few times, and it still doesn't feel real. It still doesn't feel like he managed to snag a 2.7 GPA, still doesn't feel like there's a diploma sitting on display in their living room, still doesn't feel like he's _done_, even if it's so clear that he is. Percy's not sure when it'll sink in.

As it turns out, it hits him twenty minutes later when Axe makes a brief, effective toast congratulating everyone on surviving four years of what he somewhat-jokingly calls a "hell-hole." Percy lifts his milkshake along with everyone else, experiences a moment of suffocating fear in which his glass almost slips from his hand, and laughs along when everyone teases him for it. He inhales deeply, and appreciates being surrounded by all of his favorite people, save his mother.

And he's _finished_, isn't he? Percy made it out alive and in one piece, and with grades that, a year ago, he would have declared impossible. Annabeth presses her shoulder against his. Axe grins and says something Percy can't hear over the revelations in his head. Kay lifts up a handheld video camera, smiling while she films the group at large, laughing at Leo's ridiculous finger-guns he points at the lens.

Percy exhales. It feels good.

;;

The fair arrives at the end of October, a few weeks later this year and that much colder. Against all odds, the group arranges a meeting, and not a single person doesn't attend. Even if they'd all scattered to different corners of the country, Reyna and Nico breaking those boundaries and heading for France and the Netherlands, respectively. Even if Kay and Jason had to travel quite a few hours from California, where Kay studies film and Jason proves again and again that he's an athletic prodigy.

Percy still feels nauseous looking at the rides that spin too fast and rise too high, the hot chocolate is still made of cheap powder and hot water, and Axe is still obsessed with every ride that gives him a rush. If Percy doesn't look too closely, it's almost like nothing changed.

Except, this time, Annabeth's hand rests in the crook of his elbow, and she's pressing her nose against his shoulder in futile attempts to keep it from turning red from the cold. This time, Axe is carrying Kay on his back, since she complained that she could hardly keep up with his long-legged steps, and they're more in love than any couple he's ever seen. This time, all of his friends exhibit small changes—in maturity for some, in appearance for others, in personality for most.

And this time on the Ferris wheel, Percy's not the only one who stares down at the fair, feeling a little larger than life.

;;;


End file.
